A New Life
by Shadowed Treasure
Summary: The turtles meet a young, fierce, intelligent girl and inadvertently end up putting her in danger. Shredder has returned but this time will the turtles be able to protect their friend before its too late? Story about the mutation of Mona Lisa. I'm bad at summaries, please just read and review.
1. The Anthem

OK first chapter. AJust so you know Mona Lisa is human in my story, For a while anyway. I heard there was another TMNT live action movie coming out in 2013 (thats right, another one!) and it inspired me to write this. I you guys like it plz review! Oh yeah, I don't own the ninja turtles or this song. Mr. laird, Mr. Eastman, mirage studios and the kind men of Good Charlotte lent them to me (without their knowledge)

…

8 am.

The alarm went off, as it had been doing every hour since 6am. She pulled her hand out from under the covers and fumbled to find the snooze button. Instead of hitting snooze, she ended up knocking the clock of the bedside table. There was a loud crash and the young girl sat up straight, now fully awake. Since her clock was now broken she grabbed her cell phone off the bedside table and checked the time. "crap" she said practically throwing herself out of bed.

**It's a new day, but it all feels old**

She rummaged through a pile of clothes at the end of her bed.

**It's a good life, that's what I'm told**

She pulled out a pair of black skinny jeans and smelt them. Deeming them clean and worthy enough to be worn she ran into the bathroom.

**But everything, it all just feels the same**

She brushed her teeth and splashed her face with water. She pulled don her jeans but since she didn't have enough time to find a shirt she left on the white singlet she slept in.

**At my high school, it felt more to me**

She grabbed her physics books off the desk and shoved them into her bag.

**l****ike a jail cell, a penitentiary**

Grabbing the brush, she ran it quickly through her hair and slipped on her pink headband. She looked in the mirror and flicked her long brown hair over her shoulder.

**My time spent there it only made me see**

The girl threw on her favourite leather bomber jacket with dark pink lining.

**That I don't ever wanna be like you **

She grabbed a pair of biker gloves and pulled them on.

**I don't wanna do the things you do **

Pulling on her converse while standing up proved more difficult than it seemed. She was jumping around the room trying to pulling her left shoe when the phone started ringing.

**I'm never gonna hear the words you say **

She just started pulling on the right shoe when the call went to voicemail. _"Hey hey you've reached Mona. Do your thing when you hear the beep." "Mona its coach Ryan just calling to remind you that we have practice this afternoon. Don't be late…again"_ the machine clicked.

"Crap" she moaned as she ran to get her gym bag. **I don't ever wanna I don't ever wanna be you. **

She ran out of the apartment building and jumped on her skateboard, inside cursing the school for forbidding her to ride her motorbike to school.

**don't wanna be just like you **

She rode down the street going as fast as she could. School was 10 blocks away and she had barely made 3.

**What I'm saying is this is the anthem throw all your hands up **

Swerving through the crowd, dodging angry new Yorkers while carrying 2 bags of outrageously heavy crap was difficult. There were 4 blocks left and the girl was already out of breath.

**you. don't wanna be just like you**

There were 2 blocks left.

**what I'm saying is this is the anthem throw all your hands up **

Finally she had reached the school.

**Y'all gotta feel me, sing if you're with me **

She jumped off the skate board and pushed through the school doors.

**you. Don't wanna be just like you **

She ran through the empty halls trying to find her classroom.

**what I'm saying is this is the anthem throw all your hands up **

She ran down the hall until her classroom was in sight.

**Y'all gotta feel me, sing if you're with me **

She sped up. She was late and being the fastest kid in school wouldn't help now.

**Another loser anthem**

She was almost to the door. Would this hallway never end?

**Another loser anthem**

She reached the door and barged into the classroom.

**Another loser anthem**

Both the students and her teacher looked up from their work. The teacher stood up and took off her reading glasses. " Miss Gherardini must you always enter my room in such an…._enthusiastic _ manner?"Ms. Jackson asked sternly. "sorry Miss" Mona mumbled as she slid behind her desk. Ms. Jackson walked closer to Mona, zoning in on her. "Mona Lisa do you know why it is that the best student in the school has the worst permanent record?" "Because teachers don't like students that have independent thoughts?" She shrugged. "Oh really? Well if you're such an independent thinker maybe you could use some time to think in detention." Mona was shocked. "Miss please I have gymnastics practice this afternoon. I can't be late." "Detention." She repeated as she went back to her desk. Mona groaned and slumped onto the table.

It was going to be a long day.

...

So what do you think? It's probably not that great but it will get better I promise. By the way, I didn't make up Mona's last name, it's the actual last name of the woman in the MonaLisa painting by Leonardo DaVinci. The turtles make a non-official appearance in the next chapter. Review my people, you have the power!

Xx


	2. 2nd Time Around

2nd chapter!! This is set BEFORE Mona's mutation just to let you all know. I have exams so it's gonna take a while to update. Hope you like it. Plz review.

...

A small bell chimed as she went through the door. Second Time Round was probably the most crowed store Mona had ever been in. she had come there straight after practice and was still wearing her gymnastics uniform and tracksuit.  
Mona rang the bell on the counter. "Hello? I'm here"

a young, slender woman with curly urban hair and emerald green eyes came out from the back of the store. "Your late"

"yeah, sorry April. I was late for practice so the coach made me stay behind and do like a gazillion flips."

April put her hands on her hips "you got detention again didn't you?"

" Uh, no I did not. I was just..........................yeah I got detention again." Mona gave in.

"You'll never learn" April chuckled. She stepped aside and let Mona into the back of the store.

"Hey it wasn't my fault." Mona walked past.

"It never is" April called after her.

"I really mean it. The teacher hates me." Mona said from inside the bathroom.

April leaned next to the bathroom door and let out a sigh. " You know this is the 5th you've been late this month. I probably should fire you, or at least dock your pay."

Mona emerged from the bathroom in her work clothes. "You wouldn't do that."

"And why not?" April asked as she handed Mona a work apron.

"Coz You love me." She took the apron off April.

April looked skeptic. "Oh really?"

"Yes really" Mona stuck her tongue out at her. April just rolled her eyes.

Mona walked to her position behind the counter while April sorted boxes in the back of the shop. Mona sighed. Not much happened in April's shop besides the occasional customer. Her eyes drifted to the wall opposite her and admired the framed photos and newspaper clippings. the headlines said things like "Reporter against Police" and Channel 6 Reporter Saves the Day". They all had a picture of a red-headed reporter with a big smile on her face, wearing a tacky yellow jacket.

"Well Red, at lest you used to be interesting." She muttered to herself.

She jumped as the phone began ringing loudly. Hastily, she picked up the phone.

"Hello? I mean: Hello this is 2nd Time Around Antique store. how may I help you?" She corrected herself.

"Hi this is Donatello. Is April O'Neil there?"

Mona put the phone down and went to check. April was no longer there but Mona noticed that the door that led up to her apartment was open. She went back to the phone.

"Sorry she's busy at the moment. Can I take a message?"

"No, that's OK I'll wait." The kindly voice said.

"OK............" Mona was at a loss. Was she meant to make conversation with the stranger or go back to work?

"So....How are you?"

Good I guess. A little tired" Mona answered truthfully.

"Why are you tired?"

"I had gymnastics practice"

"You do gymnastics?" the voice asked.

"Yeah, hence the practice."

"Oh yeah" the voice chuckled nervously.

"Hey Donnie, who you talking to?" A loud voice called over the reciever.

"I don't know actually. Who is this?" the first voice asked.

"Uh....Mona."

"Oh. well it's nice to meet you-"

"I want to talk!" Mona could hear them fight over the receiver. Finally someone spoke.

"Hi I'm Mikey!" It was the loud, happy one that sounded slightly Californian.

" Hi Mikey." She said slowly.

"What's Your name?"

"Mona Lisa."

"what kind of a name is that?" she could hear the confusion in his voice.

"What kind of a name is Mikey?" Mona Snapped.

"Give me back the phone. I'm waiting for April." it was the first voice again.

"Make me" Said the second voice.

"what the hell is going on here?" OK, that voice was completely new.

"Raph, make Mikey give me the phone back."

"Make Donnie share the phone."

"Wait a sec, Whose on the phone?" the voice speaking was gruff and rude.

"mona lisa." the happy one said matter-of-factly.

"I got no idea who that is." The grumpy one stated.

"She's my new friend...OW! What was that for?"

"For being an idiot."

Mona heard them grappling for the phone again.

"Hello?" it was the first voice."Yes?" Mona was getting tired of this phone call she looked around for April.

"Gimme the phone!" the happy voice said.

Suddenly there was a loud crash and Mona heard bickering in the background.

"Hello?" This was a new voice yet again.

"Who are you?" Mona was officially tired of the annoying voices.

"Leonardo. Listen.........We'll call back later OK?"

"Fine." She said, immediately hanging up the phone. She looked around, wondering if the bizarre phone call she just had actually happened.

"Well, that was an experience." She muttered to herself.

...

What do you think? If you like it please review!!!!!!!!!! XoXo


	3. The Game

I don't own the ninja turtles, bla bla bla. Please enjoy my pointless, time wasting story.

...

This was it. Everything came down to this shot. He puled his mask down over his face and tried to center himself.

"Come on Casey. This is it. Your moment. All you gotta do is make this shot." he whispered to himself.

"Hurry up man, just shoot already!" One player yelled.

"OK let's do this." Casey said confidently.

He pulled back the hockey stick and took a run up. The puck went soaring through the air. Then-  
CRASH

"What was that man?" A short boy with bad skin and shaggy hair asked.

"What do you mean what was That? I just took a shot!"

"Yeah right into the trash cans." Another kid said, removing his mask.

"Like you could do better?" Casey snapped childishly

"Yeah I could." the kid retorted.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Oh yeah?"

"What the hell is going on here?" a female voice practically yelled at 's head snapped up to see April standing at the back door of the store with Mona Lisa right behind her.

"Oh hey babe. we were just playing some hockey." He said in a nonchalant voice, twirling his hockey stick like a baton.

"What was that sound?"

"Just taking a shot."

Mona peered around April's shoulder. "What happened to the trash cans?"

"That's what he shot at" acne-kid said.

Mona laughed and shook her head. "I can't believe you used to play in the majors."

"Shut it Mona."

"What are you going to do to him, Red?" Mona asked April, Who merely sighed "Nothing, Hes got to get ready."

"For what?" Casey couldn't remember anything that they had planned tonight.

"where going to the guys place tonight." she said, trying to be as subtle as possible.

"5 more minutes." He begged

"No"

"But I was winning!"

"Against 12 year olds." Mona snorted.

"Hey, you in the pink. I told you to shut it."

She pushed past April and began zoning in on him. "And what are you going to do about it Jones?"

April stood between them. "Enough. You" She pointed to Casey. "Go get ready. And you" She pointed to Mona. "Get back to work. The rest of you...." She turned to face the group of kids. "Go Home."

They all ran off in different directions while Casey and Mona fought over getting through the back door first.

"Casey, I swear to God, We still have to get the pizza and if you make us late I will _personally _kill you."

Casey pushed past Mona and ran up the stairs. "What's the bet he's up there playing video games?" Mona asked.

"Your probably right." April sighed as she climbed the stairs after Casey. "We are going to be _so_ late."

...

The turtles appear in the next chapter. I know this one's a little short. Reviews would be awesome :)


	4. It begins

Disclaimer: Don't own the turtles. On with the show!

...

He flew through the air, katanas in hand, with deadly precision. There was the loud clinking of metal as weapons met. Sais and Katanas clashed and nunchakus whirled like helicopters. the master of the Bo staff used his weapon to block his opponents attacks and very rarely hit back. The sais were used aggressively, as opposed to the katanas, which were handled with great skill. Nunchakus were spun recklessly, as if their master thought they were propellers instead of the deadly instrument the they were.

"Enough" An elderly voice said. In an instant the four turtles stopped sparring and knelt in a line in front of their master.

"Donatello" The rat turned and faced his smartest son "You must learn to fight back, you can not take down your opponent if you do not fight back."

"Yes Sensei." The purple-clad turtle replied.

"Raphael, more control. Leonardo, too much control. You must learn to move with your weapon."

"Yes Master Splinter" Leonardo bowed to his Sensei.

_"yes master splinter"_ Raphael mimicked quietly, earning him a dirty look from Leo.

"And Michelangelo-"

"Hey Guys!" April called as she and Casey walked into the Lair. Casey Held out 6 square boxes and a deliciously familiar smell wafted toward them. "We brought Pizza!"

Within an instant the turtles were out of line and in the kitchen with Casey. All 4 of them stood in the kitchen battling over different boxes and pizza slices. All memory of the training they were doing only moments before was pushed to the back of their minds and was now replaced with the more important task of getting the biggest slice of pizza before the other one did. There was a great deal of pushing and shoving before each of them calmed down and were happy with the piece that they ended up with.

Splinter Sighed "I am...............going to meditate."

...

April, Casey and the turtles sat on the couch with boxes of pizza spread in front of them. the news was on in the background and everyone sat around eating pizza and waiting for the friday night movie to start.

"Hey Mikey that was my slice!" Casey whined as Mikey stole the pizza right out of his hand.

"But it's the last of the pepperoni and cheese!"

"Mikey!"

"My slice!" Mikey said childishly. Casey tried to pull the slice out of Mikey's hand but ended up doing a face plant instead. Michelangelo stood over Casey triumphantly. "Ha ha. Beware my Kung-Fu grip!"

"Your a ninja." April informed him.

"So?" Mike took a bite of his victory pizza and April shook her head at him.

"April, we tried to call you today but you weren't there." Donatello said, changing the subject.

"Yeah, I've been trying to re-arrange the store so I've been busy alot." She said "But I didn't have any messages today."

"We didn't leave one. but we may have kind of....... freaked out your shop assistant."

"You talked to Mona?"

"Yeah" They all chimed together.

"Wait, you ALL talked to Mona?"

"Yeah, because Michelangelo wanted to be an idiot." Leo Stated.

"Relax fearless Leader. It was just a phone call. It's not like she can sense that we're giant turtles by hearing our voices." Raph said.

"Hey Guys, check it out." Mikey pointed to the TV and turned up the volume. "Isn't that Baxter Stockman?"

"Whats _He_ doing on the news?" April asked.

"I don't know." Leo said "but whatever the reason, it can't be good."

...

[TV NEWS]

_"These extraordinary machines, or 'Mousers' as they have been called, are the pinnacle of scientific technology. We are here today with the inventor of these mousers, Doctor Baxter Stockman."_

_The camera shifted to show a man standing next to a two legged robot in the center of a science lab. The man looked overly proud of himself and his machines.  
_

_"Doctor Stockman, congratulations on your latest invention. Can you tell us what inspired you to create these incredible machines?"_

_"Pure genius. That's all it was. There was no inspiration or influence, the ideas for the mouser came from nothing but the sheer brilliance of my mind." The man named Doctor Stockman said with a smug look on his face._

_The reporter nodded and continued questioning. "And what are you working on now, Doctor?"_

_"Well, I am currently working with __Professor Jordon Perry__-__an old associate of mine__- to discover a way to combine human DNA with different strands of animal DNA.- Ah, here he is now. This is Prof. Perry" The camera shifted as Stockman pulled a lanky man with thick glasses onto screen._

_"Professor, can you tell us what the benefits of combining human and animal DNA would be?"_

_"Well, it would be an amazing medical breakthrough. Using the DNA of various animals, we could strengthen the human immune system and sharpen our senses greatly. We could even be able to cure diseases. This could change peoples lives. Say if we combined human DNA with that of a lizard for example. Why, amputees could grow back limbs!"_

_"Well said my friend. And with this discovery we could enhance the skill and ability of our soldiers. We could create the greatest army in the world." Stockman added._

_Professor Perry gave a disproving look. "But that is not what we will be using it for."_

_"Well, That seems to be all we have time for." The reporter cut in " Thank you so much for your time Doctor Stockman, Professor Perry. Back to you in the studio."_

...

"Turn it off" A dark voice said.

Karai obliged. She turned off the television set and went to kneel in front of him. "What is it master?"

"These scientist, their ideas interest me. They may be just what I need to defeat my enemies."

"The turtles?"

"The turtles. For years I have tried to destroy them and failed, but these men might hold the key to defeating the turtles once and for all."

"What do you wish me to do master?" She asked.

"Find them. Bring them to me. I am going to make them an offer they can not refuse."

She bowed." Yes Master Shredder."

...

DUN DUN DUN! lol, thnx to anyone who read this. I'm actually thinking of ditching this story. The only reason I write it is to keep myself preoccupied on the bus (which probably explains why its so crappy). But this has actually been fun to write and I'm not the kind of person that gives up on something so I'm probably not ditch it. If you want me to keep writing please review. If you don't, review anyway.


	5. Men in Black Pajamas

Ok, we all know I don't own the turtles? Good let's move on

...

It was 11pm on a Saturday night when they decided to pack up and go home. Normally, the two scientists would never have worked this late but they were so absorbed in their own work that they had almost forgotten about the world around them.  
3 weeks had passed since they had announced their plans of genetic experimentation on national television and already they had made breakthroughs that would win them a Noble Prize.  
Although their work was genius, not everybody agreed with it. Since the public announcement they had received many negative responses to their work, mainly protests and letters telling them how they were going against nature and that they shouldn't play God.  
Most of them were just simple complaints, but it was the hate mail and death threats that kept Professor Perry awake at night. It made him think about whether what they were doing was really worth it.

He sat in his lab and wondered if he would be able to go through with something so many people were against.  
He looked over at his colleague,Dr. Baxter Stockman. It was clear that was thinking the exact opposite to him. He wasn't thinking about how many people this would upset or anger, he was thinking about the fame and recognition he would gain if he succeeded.  
Professor Perry immediately regretted Agreeing to work with this man. He knew the only reason Baxter Stockman chose him as a partner was because Stockman knew he couldn't finish this by himself and Professor Perry was humble enough to let Stockman take most of the credit.

"Well my friend, I think we've accomplished all we can for tonight. What do you say we head home and get some sleep?" Stockman's voice pulled him out of his thoughts and back to reality. He glanced at his watch and was shocked to see how long they had been working for. Professor Perry looked around them lab.

"Where is everyone?" He asked.

"They left hours ago. You and I seem to be the only ones that care about the work this lab is doing."

Perry nodded. "I suppose we should be heading home then."

The two of them worked silently as they put all the equipment and samples back into their correct places and filed away all the documents they had used. Perry gathered his belongings and placed them all carefully into his suitcase.  
He took the notes he had made and carefully ordered them. He placed them on the table as he unbuckled his suitcase. As he opened it, the brim of his case knocked down an empty measuring flask and sent it rolling off the table and under the lab benches.  
The Professor was actually surprised that it didn't shatter. Feeling rather ridiculous, he bent down and crawled under the table to pick it up. The cleaning crew had already shut the lights off, so finding the flask was difficult.  
he felt around for it till his hand skimmed over something. Perry felt slightly triumphant as he went to pick up what he thought was the measuring flask.

Only, it wasn't the measuring flask.

As he touched it again he found that it did not actually feel like glass. It was soft and slightly warm, like some kind of fabric.  
He stared at it till it came into focus. It was black and extremely hard to make out. He leaned in and on closer inspection saw that it looked like a hand.  
It was also attached to something. his eyes followed it up until his eyes were staring back into another set of eyes. It was then he realized that the thing wasn't hand shaped. It was a hand. The figure stared back at him for what seem like an eternity until Perry worked up the courage to move.  
He crawled back out form under the table but the figure followed him twice as fast. The Professor got to his feet and was ready to run until he came head first with another black figure.  
He looked around. There were more. What seemed like hundreds of men dressed in black all standing in his laboratory. His eyes ran over the room, searching for Baxter Stockman.  
He saw him already bound and gagged in the corner of the room guarded by a group of men in black pajamas.

"There is no need to fear, Professor Perry. We are not here to harm you." A female voice echoed from across the room. Her Voice was cold and harsh. There was no emotion in her tone whatsoever.

"W-who are you?What do y-you want?" Prof. Perry tried to keep the quiver out of his voice but it was no use. he was scared and they could tell.

The woman laughed from where ever she was in the room. The laugh sounded dark and hollow as it bounced of the walls and echoed through the room. "My name is Karai and I have already told you, we are no here to harm you, so stop worrying. We are merely her to....._help_ you with your work."

"Help? Help how?"

"My master finds your work intriguing and thinks it might be of use to him. He wishes to fund your research." As she spoke she walked into view. She was dressed head to toe in black, just like rest of her men, but her outfit seemed more styled, more _deadly_. Perry already knew that this was not a woman he wanted to get angry.

"I am very s-sorry Miss Karai, but we are going to h-have to r-refuse your offer." The professor said as clearly and politely as he could.

A terrifying smile crossed Karai's face. "It was not a request, Professor Perry."

...

It was 11pm on a Saturday night when Mona decided to head home. Normally she wasn't one to leave a party early-especially a party thrown in her honor- but tonight she just didn't feel like celebrating. at least, not with her friends anyway.  
this was something she'd rather celebrate with family, if she still had her family. Mona and her parents spent most of her childhood planning what it would be like to go to college.  
they would sit down and talk about what she would study, what university she would attend, whether she would live on campus or stay at home. It wasn't like her parents were pushy or anything, in fact Mona was the one who started these conversations.  
Going to college was something that she had always dreamed of doing and she had had everything planned out since she was eight.  
She planned to major in physics and go to NYU, that way she could live on campus and still see her it was all happening, Mona had gotten her letter back and been accepted into university with flying colors.  
Unfortunately, now there was no one to celebrate that with. Her parents were gone and her brother and sister lived on some vineyard in California with their aunt and uncle. Mona was left in New York by herself.

She rode down the street on her bike. It was completely empty, which was usual for basically any street in New York. She was heading toward her apartment complex when something caught her eye.  
The movement was small and Mona probably wouldn't have noticed it if there was more than one car on the street. She pulled over and cut the engine. She took off her helmet and placed on the bikes seat-praying neither would get stolen before she got back.  
Mona looked over to where she had first seen the movement and saw that it was coming from an alley way between 2 expensive looking buildings.  
the first one was smaller that the other and just looked like a set of luxury offices for some rich business men.  
The other she recognized-it was that TGRI building that that had been on the news a lot lately. The one where those scientists were mutating DNA or something like that.  
Then something else caught Mona's attention. this time it was a noise. It sounded like a voice, almost like a muffled scream. Against her better judgment, Mona ran across the road and into the dark alley way.

The first thing Mona saw was a van. It wasn't one of those white panel vans that abduct people like you hear about on the news.  
It was dark and large, unlike any van Mona had seen before. It gave her the feeling that this van could go anywhere and would probably never get noticed.  
The second thing she saw were figures. lots of large black figures crowding around the van. She rubbed her eyes in an effort to make them disappear, as if they were only a figment of her imagination.  
When she stopped they were still there, only this time they were clearer. They were figures, they were men. Men wearing black pajamas so they could blend in with their surroundings and go around unnoticed.  
Unfortunately, now that Mona had noticed them, they had also noticed her.

She raised her hands and slowly tried to back out of the alley way. "Sorry guys, didn't mean to bother you...I just...uh, I'll just be going now."

She turned on her heel and tried to sprint back to her bike but the moment she did she was surrounded by a bunch of men in black. Everywhere she turned they were around her, closing in on her. Mona knew what she had to do if she wanted to get out of this, but she wasn't sure if was capable of taking down any of these men. She hadn't fought anyone in years and these guys definitely seemed skilled.

"Take her down quickly and quietly, we don't want to keep Master shredder waiting." A voice called from somewhere near the van. Mona could tell it belonged to a woman, but whoever it was, she didn't seem very friendly. She heard a door slam and knew that the woman was in the van, now she was just waiting for her drive way to be cleared.

The men stood in a tight circle around Mona for what seemed like forever. And then, within an instant, they attacked. each one jumped at Mona as she tried her best to avoid them, ducking and swerving away from each punch that was thrown at her.  
She managed to avoid them pretty well but she was growing tired fast and she had to take them down if she wanted to get out of this mess. She closed her eyes and made her hand into a fist.  
Then, as soon as she felt someone was close enough, she threw her fist straight out, punching them square in the jaw. She opened her eyes and saw one of the men lying on the floor, out cold.  
She smiled at her own handy work and turned to face the rest of them. With each punch or kick they threw at her, she bested them with one of her own. Despite the situation she was in, Mona couldn't help but smile. Maybe she was going to make it out of this after all.

The last ninja fell to the ground and Mona stood over them triumphantly. "Is that all you got?"

The moment the the words left her mouth 50 dozen other ninjas literally fell out of the sky and appeared right in front of her.

"Oh, what the hell?" She exclaimed "Where are you people coming from?"

The new army of ninjas started helping the ones Mona had just knocked down to their feet. "Awesome. Now I'm back where I started." She mumbled sarcastically. Since she was completely aware that there was no way she could take down all these guys _again_, Mona decided to make a break for it.

She ran. Mona was fast but they were faster. It scared her, She had never met anyone that could out run her before. She tried picking up the pace but they did the same and, once again, she was surrounded by an army of tried fighting them off again, but it was no use.  
The amount of men had doubled and she was still tired from the first fight. Mona tried to run but they caught her. She didn't know what to do, she was trapped in this fight and she couldn't see a way out.

Then, it was as if a miracle happened. Just as she had given up hope four other men fell out of the sky. Except these men weren't in black, they were wearing green.  
Four guys covered head to toe in green, each one wearing a different colored mask and carrying a different weapon. At first Mona thought that they were after her as well, the same army just dressed differently.  
But when they went after the men in black and not her, she knew these guys were on her side. Mona watched them as they took down each man. They were ninjas, she could tell that; but they fought differently to they way the ones in black did.  
She couldn't quite put her finger on what exactly was different, she knew that these guys were the good guys.  
Something was strange about them too. Besides being decked out in green, they had things on their back-shells. These guys were dressed as turtles?

"Now Do you men really want to pick on this nice lady?" The one with the purple mask said while twirling a giant stick. Five men came at him from different sides and he swept them all aside with his stick. "I thought not."

Each of them fought their own group of ninja and each of them were winning.  
The blue one was extremely focused.  
The orange one seemed to be taking this like it was some kind of game, continually taunting the men in the black suits and cracking lame jokes. The red one was.......about to get his head punched in from behind. Mona sprang to her feet rushed over to help him. the moment she got there she pushed the red masked ninja out if the way with all her strength.

"What the shell do you think your doing lady?" The red one said, straightening himself out. Mona didn't knock him over but she did send him flying across the alley.

"What do you think I was doing? I was saving you from getting your head bashed in you jerk!" Mona managed ti duck just in time before she got kicked in the head by one of the black-clad ninja.

"Well here's a news flash for you lady: I don't need Saving. I can take care of myself. In fact, I'm here to save you, not the other way around." He yelled at her while taking down two other ninja.

Even though Mona was now engaged in a battle of her own she wasn't about to give up this argument. "And what makes you think I needed saving?"

"Besides the fact you were about to get killed by an army of foot ninja?" He grunted through his teeth.

"Listen mister-" She blocked a kick from one of theses 'foot ninja' guys "You can't just wander the streets of New York, dressed as a giant turtle and go around saving women you think are damsels in distress-" Mona managed to flip one of them over her shoulder and send him crashing into the pavement " One of these days your gonna get your ass kicked or sued or worse." She finished of the last of her guys and ran back over to continue her argument with red mask.

"Oh really?" He said taking a step closer.

"Yeah."

'oh, Yeah?"

"YEAH!"

"Oh-Get out of the way!!" The red masked guy yelled with a terrified expression on his face. He pushed her to the side and she collided with a brick wall. Her head was throbbing violently as she slid down the wall onto the cement floor of the alley way. The last thing she saw was the red masked man battling a strange woman as her world faded to black.

...

OK, I talked to a friend of mine and she convinced me I didn't want to be one of those people that leave a story half done so I'm going to finish it. It would be cool to get some reviews though, so if you read it plz review. Also, i plan to make mona go to college some time soon but I don't know how the american education system works. If someone could tell me when they start and finish school and stuff like that it would be super helpful. Xx


	6. Mutants In the Sewers

OK, I'm back. sorry for the delay. There's going to be quite a bit of delay between updates coz now I'm back at school and loaded with work and don't have alot of time. Thanks to everyone that read and liked my story. Hope you like this chapter.

...

"She's been out for quite a while"

"Raph, how hard did you hit her?"

"Hey! I didn't hit her. It's her own fault she's like this!"

"I can't believe you guys actually knocked her out"

"Raph did it."

"I did not!"

"Maybe we should wake her up"

"trust me, you don't wanna do that. April let her stay at our place once and she almost knocked me out when I tried to wake her up. The chick is crazy."

"Mona is not crazy"

"_She's Pretty.._"

"Not the time, Mikey"

"Can you guys keep it down? We don't want to wake her up."

Mona groaned. Her head was throbbing and her body ached all over. Voices were all around and Mona wished they would just shut up for 5 minutes so she could figure out what was going on. She could feel the couch cushions underneath her so she knew she wasn't still lying the alley. At least, she thought she wasn't. The place itself felt a lot warmer than the streets but Mona could still hear the hustle of the city and smell the streets of new york, so she couldn't be too far away from the city. The voices around her were bickering away and Mona had finally had enough of it.

"Can you guys please just shut up?" She managed to mumble.

Silence fell over the room and Mona could feel them all staring at her. She forced herself to sit up and open her eyes. The sudden intake of light hurt her eyes but she managed to keep them open till they adjusted to the change. As her vision cleared her eyes focused on the face in front of her. She screamed.

Standing in front of her was a wide eyed giant turtle wearing a bright orange bandanna. It grinned broadly at her and she scrambled to the other end of the couch trying to get away from him. A shadow cast over her and Mona looked up to see _yet another_ giant turtle looking down at her, the look on his face showed his concern but she was too busy trying to get away from him to realize it. She jumped of the couch and banged her shins on the coffee table. Mona tried to run but she felt a hand wrap around her arm to prevent her from doing so.

"Mona. Mona Lisa, calm down. It's alright. They're not going to hurt you." She turned around to face the familiar voice and saw April standing there holding her back.

"APRIL!" Mona wrapped her arms around April's neck, so happy to she someone she knew was here to rescue her. "April, what's going on? where am I? Who are these guys?" She said looking around at the four giant turtles standing by the couch.

April laughed the panic in Mona's voice. "I told you to calm down. We'll explain everything to you."

She led Mona back to the couch, where she sat in a state of shock for the longest time before gaining the courage to speak. "...So, you wanna explain any of this to me?"

"Please, allow me." Mona jumped as she finally noticed the large rat sitting in the arm chair beside her. "I am Hamato Splinter. It is an honor to meet you Miss Gherardini."

"How does he know my name?" she whispered to April.

"I told them your name." She whispered back.

"You see Miss Gherardini.." The big rat called 'Splinter' continued. "This all started many years ago...."

And with that Splinter started their origin story. By the way he told it, Mona could tell that it had been very well rehearsed. _'They probably have to tell this story quite a bit_' she thought. She sat there and listened, noting the detail the rat went into while telling his story. It all seemed so crazy, so hard to believe, but it had to be true. Didn't it? Otherwise why would she be sitting here with her boss, her boss's 'man whore' (as Mona called him), four giant turtles and a rat. Splinter went into immense detail explaining their origins, even telling her how they met April and Casey. When it was all over they went around in a circle and introduced themselves. Mona made a mental note of what color went with what name.

"Leonardo" _Blue_

"Donatello" _Purple_

"Michelangelo"_ Orange_

"Raphael" _The one that hit me._

"I'm Mona Lisa." She told them. They already knew but she figured it was polite to tell them herself.

"I know this must be very hard for you to take in." Splinter said.

"Well scientifically, yes." Mona told him truthfully "But I guess the theory is...plausible. Plus when I was a kid I always wondered if there were mutants living in the sewers. Now I have my answer."

"We prefer the term 'Scientifically Enhanced'." Michelangelo stated.

"No we don't" The purple one-Donatello?-told her.

Leonardo leaned over the back of the couch to talk to her. "Now that you you know about us, you can't tell a soul. You know that right?"

"Don't worry, all I want to do is go home and pretend none of this ever happened."

"I'm afraid we can't let you do that." Michelangelo said in a toneless voice.

Mona started panicking as Donatello tried to explain to her what his brother meant. "We just have to keep you here for a while. You hit your head pretty hard and there's a chance you could have a concussion so we have to keep you awake for a little while."

"Well how long do I have to stay here then?" She already knew the answer though. If there was even a chance you had a concussion then you had to stay awake for at least-

"24 hours."

"24 hours? Can't I please go home? I promise I'll stay awake."

"Sorry but we can't take that chance." He said apolegetically.

"Then I'll stay with April and Casey."

"Oh no you won't." Casey said, grabbing April's hand and standing to leave. "We got plans and I'm not canceling them to babysit you."

"Jerk" She muttered.

"Sorry Mona." April called as Casey pulled her towards the exit. "It won't be that bad I promise. You can trust these guys. Have fun."

"Way to abandon me April!" Mona yelled after her.

Mona turned and faced the quartet of turtles standing behind her.

"so.." She said "What happens now?"

"I think my sons are going to take you on a tour of our home." Splinter informed her. The turtles all nodded in agreement - well, all except Raphael. "If you need me, I'll be in the dojo meditating." he said as he hobbled off.

"So how 'bout that tour?" Leonardo asked her. She nodded and Michelangelo jumped and squealed like a child.

"C'mon Mona, I'll show you my room first!" He ran up the stairs and the other two turtles slowly trailed him.

She was about to follow them up when she noticed the red one was going off in the opposite direction. "You coming?" She asked.

"To hang around with you losers? no thanks." He grunted at her. He stormed off and out of the lair before she could say anything else.

"I don't like that turtle."

...

So? what did ya think of my new chapter? Hope you all liked it. Tim Burton's Alice in Wonlerland comes out in a few more days! Sooooo Excited!!!!! Looks awesome doesn't it? Anyway hope you like my story. If you did or you didn't, or you just wanna talk about Alice in Wonderland then review. I'm happy to hear your opinion. Xx


	7. Getting To Know You

Hey guys, Sorry if this chapter suck but I'm currently sitting my exams so I've been really distracted and just wrote this as a break from all my studying. Saw Alice in Wonderland. Twice. I don't know what you guys think but I loved it. Your all invited to my wedding to the Mad Hatter. lol. Please forgive any mistakes I made about the whole American schooling thing. I'm not American so I kinda just guessed most of it. I don't own the characters or any of the schools or anything else I mentioned. Mona's family are kind of OC's but that's it. Anyways, here my next chapter. Hope you like.

...

"Hey guys check it out." Mikey called his two brothers over and pointed to the scene taking place in Don's lab. "She's a female Donnie."

The three turtles watched as Mona and their brother performed random experiments with the many pieces of equipment in his lab. The two talked and laughed as though they had been friends their entire lives, completely oblivious to the three pairs of peering eyes at the cracked some weird science joke the guys didn't understand and Mona laughed.

" I wish the guys at my school were like you." Mona said, putting down the chemicals she was mixing and taking a seat on top of one of the benches.

"The guys at your school don't like science?" Don didn't look up from the tiny machine he was working on. He wore a ridiculous pair of goggles that made his eyes look five times their normal size.

"You kidding me? They're high school boys. The only thing on their mind is football and cheerleaders." She sighed." Of course there is the occasional nerd in my class that I can strike up an intellectual conversation with, but talking to them is just so boring."

"I know what you mean. Most of the time, the only one that actually understands what I'm saying is April but she's not always here and the only one left to talk to is Mikey, who doesn't understand a word if it's more than 3 syllables long."

Michelangelo opened his mouth to protest but Raphael whacked him over the head before he could say anything.

Mona sat crossed legged on the lab bench, careful not to knock over any of Donnie's stuff. "That's why I'm looking forward to going to college. At least there I can be around intellectual equals."

"That's a little cocky isn't it?" Raph blurted out before he could stop himself. His brothers gave him looks that told him what he just said was rude but Mona didn't seem to mind Raph's opinion.

"Not really. I've been taking Senior classes since 9th grade and Senior physics since 8th. I applied for a whole bunch of colleges then but they didn't want me there. Said having someone like me attending their school at that age was bad for their image or something...stupid snobby schools." She mumbled under her breath. "Anyway, I applied again this year and I got accepted so in three months I'm off to college!" She said excitedly.

Raph and Mikey gave her weird looks. They had never heard of anyone exited about going to school before, from what they had picked up from television and Casey it was one of the worst places a kid could go.

"So what schools did you apply to?" Donatello asked her. "Figures Donnie would be interested in her fricken school life."Raph thought to himself.

" Well lets see, I tried out for Harvard, Princeton, Juilliard, Yale" She counted them off with her fingers. "But I'm going to NYU."

"You didn't get into the other ones?" Mikey questioned innocently from the chair beside her.

"Oh no I was accepted. I just wanted to go to NYU." She told them nonchalantly, as if the accomplishment was nothing.

Donnie gaped at her in shock. It took him several Tries to form the words he was trying to say. "You turned down Harvard for NYU? Why?"

"Coz it's what we planned."

"What who planned?"

"Me and my parents. We've had the whole thing planned since I was 9. I was going to go to NYU, live on campus and come home on the weekends so I could have Sunday dinner with my family and play soccer with Vinnie and talk about my classes with Gabby."

"But why would your parents let you turn down an opportunity live Harvard?"

"Because they don't know I got accepted."

"Why not?"

"Because they died two and a half years ago."

The entire room went silent as the four turtles stared at her in shock. Donatello sat in his chair mentally kicking himself for asking such a stupid question.

"Oh my god. Mona I'm so sorry. I had no idea, really."

Mona laughed at his rambling effort to apologize. " It's OK Donatello. I don't care. I'm not one of those sentimental people that get all emotional every time you bring up the dead. I like talking about them."

"How'd They Die?" Smooth Raph. He thought after the words left his mouth. Way to be a jerk.

"Car crash." She stated. "About two and a half years ago now. They were on their way to my recital and this truck came out of nowhere and hit them. My brother and sister were in the car too. Luckily they survived."

"Your recital?" Raph knew it was rude to ask after what she just told them but for some reason that was the only thing he was able to say.

"Yes. You see, aside from having a brilliant scientific mind, I also happen to be an incredibly talented musician and athlete." She said in exaggerated tone.

"What happened after that?" Mikey asked her. The question wasn't harsh, it was Sympathetic and concerned.

"Well since I was sixteen at the time, the court declared me an emancipated minor and I was able to live by myself. Gabby and Vinnie went to live with my cousins in California. My Aunt Trish and Uncle Joe own a vineyard there. I tried fighting for custody but they said I was too young to be a legal guardian. Funny huh? Old enough to take care of myself but not old enough to take care of my family." She waved the matter off as if it didn't affect her as much as it did. The turtles saw right through her. "Anyway, they left and I stayed in New york and continued my education. Got a job at Aprils to pay for the stuff that isn't covered by my trust fund. Luckily my parents were loaded so it covers pretty much everything. So I spend most of my time Studying, Training or working and in the holidays I usually go to California to visit my family."

"But your eighteen now aren't you? Can't you fight for legal custody?" Leo folded his arms quizzically.

"Tried to but the court is convinced I would be an unstable guardian so when I tried again and I lost...again."

Sensing Mona's sadness, they lead the conversation elsewhere. "Tell us about your family." Leonardo asked.

Mona leaned back on the bench and put her weight on the palm of her hands. "Uh, Let's See: There's my sister Gabby-Gabriella. She's seventeen years old. She's a genius. Total prodigy. She's obsessed with history and biology and medicine and stuff. She wants to be a cardiologist when grows up. She's got this beautiful curly brown hair but she cuts it short even though I keep telling her to grow it out coz the curls would sit better long. And she hides her face behind these glasses that so do not flatter her at all and-"

"Mona."

Raphael's voice pulled her out of her rambling state and she focused on what she was meant to be talking about. "Oh, sorry." She smiled. " Ok then there's Vinnie who's probably fourteen now. Is he fourteen? yep he is. he's fourteen. He like to act like he's a member of the Fricken mafia because he's Italian and his name is Vincent but in reality he's just a regular teenage boy. He's great at sports. He play's basket ball and soccer non stop. Then we have my cousin Susanna, who just turned three. she's so adorable and looks just like her mother. Then My Uncle Joesph and Aunt Patricia. Fabulous kind-hearted people. Plus they're the best cooks in the world."

"They sound great" Donnie said, leaning over a bench.

"Yeah, they are." She sighed. "I miss them a lot."

The conversation stopped there. Mona said nothing more than that and when they realized she wasn't going to they all sat in an awkward silence until Mona decided to speak again.

"I'm bored. You guys got any video games?" She said randomly, jumping off the work bench she was sitting on.

"Do we?" Mikey exclaimed. "We got tonnes. C'mon I'll show you!" He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of Donnie's lab.

"I would've killed to go to Harvard." Donnie muttered under his breath once they all left his lab.

Mikey and Mona sat on the couch battling each other in one of his old video games, where Mikey learned, to his surprise, that Mona was actually good at them. They played several games and their war lasted quite some time before the winner was determined.

"YES!" Mikey screamed, jumping up and down on the couch. "Yeah! I am the greatest man Alive!"

"No fair I want a rematch." Mona said. She threw the controller to the ground and leaned into the couch."You only won because I'm Tired. Yeah, that's it. I'm tired. Very...very tired." Mona yawned, sprawling out on the couch and resting her head on the arm. "Nap time."

"Yeah. Oh Yeah, oh yeah, oh- HEY! What are you doing?" Mikey broke off mid victory dance when he noticed Mona on the couch.

"Nap time." She repeated.

"What? NO! Stay awake remember? Donnie said you gotta stay awake coz...well I don't remember why but you do!" He said shaking her arm.

"Donnie can...can...he can...do something" She muttered, half asleep.

"Nooooo...stay awake. C'mon talk to me. Tell me, uh, tell me how you learned to fight."

"What are you talking about?" Mona was still tired but atleast Mikey's question had got her thinking. She sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"You know, when you were fighting the foot ninja before we arrived. You were actually pretty good until they kinda multiplied in numbers and tried to kill you."

"So?"

"So where'd you learn to fight like that?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that." She was awake but the sleep deprivation was getting to her.

"Why not?" Mikey asked.

"First rule of the fight club-"

"Don't talk about the fight club." He and Raphael said together.

"Ah, Raphael what are you doing here?" Mona asked when she noticed him standing behind the couch.

"I live here." He grunted.

"I meant what are you doing standing behind the couch listening to my conversation. Are you stalking me?"

"Don't flatter yourself. Mikey, get her some caffeine or sugar or somethin' to keep her awake. She's so sleep deprived she's acting crazy."

"Okey-dokey." Mikey grabbed Mona's hand and pulled her towards the kitchen and if looks could kill, well Raph would have died painfully with the one Mona shot him as she was pulled away.

"Is he always this mean?" She whispered to Mikey.

"Pretty much. Were you really in the fight club?"

...

Well that's chapter 8. Mona acts a little weird in it because she's sleep deprived and slightly concussed. To be honest, it doesn't really sit well with me. Just something about it. Probably coz I killed of her parents and I really didn't want to do that, but I had to get rid of them so the rest of the story would make more sense. Plus I really wanted to get Mona history out in this chapter and this was the best way I could think of. So tell me what you think. Oh, and in case I don't update any time soon: Happy Easter! xoxo


	8. Are We Friends Now?

YAY NEXT CHAPTER! I actually updated a lot sooner than I thought. Probably because I spent today writing this chapter when I should have been studying. I'm going to pay for it in my exam tomorrow but oh well. A bit of time passes in this chapter so sorry if it gets a little weird. Don't own the turtles or the song that Mona sings. The song is called "Without You" from RENT. Hope that you like this.

...

They trekked silently through the sewers, guiding Mona Lisa through the unfamiliar tunnels. It was dark and in her opinion it smelt absolutely disgusting, but the turtles didn't seem to mind it.

"Are we there yet?" She had no idea why she was whispering, something about being in the sewers scared her. _Brilliant Mona_. She thought to herself._ You just spent 24 hours with giant turtles and your afraid of sewer water._

"Almost." Donnie told her. The sewer was dark and what little light they had came from the moonlight that seeped through the grates and manholes. Mona couldn't see a thing but she figured the guys had been down here so many times they had memorized every tunnel in the city. They took another right turn and walked for another 5 minutes until Leonardo stopped dead in his tracks, causing Mona to walk straight into him.

"Ow."

"Sorry." he pointed towards the manhole directly above them. "We're here."

Leo went first, opening the manhole on his way up, then Donnie and Raph. Mikey went after Mona to help her out of the sewer. They were in an alley. They alley next to her apartment. Her alley. She looked around. Her eyes searching for one thing in particular.

"Where's my bike?"

Mikey scratched his head. "Uh, what?"

"You know, my bike. It's a black Ducati 848. I usually park it right over here" She pointed to a spot hidden behind a dumpster."So I can see it it from my window but nobody else can. Oh my God I can't believe this. Where is it?"

"Umm....you mean the big black shiny one that was parked across the street from the TGRI building?" Mikey asked nervously.

"Yes! That's where I left it. God, I hope it's OK. C'mon we gotta go get it."

"Yeah, well we can't really do that. You see, the foot ninja left in a hurry and when they did they kinda...ranoveryourbike." He muttered quckly.

"WHAT?! Oh it's gone for sure now. Even if it was salvageable those stupid street punks would've taken it and sold it for parts! Oh, my baby. You were to precious to be scrap metal!"

"Oh please, you keep a bike like that in an alleyway like this and it's bound to end up as scrap metal." Raphael snorted.

"My poor bike. Oh Nyx what have I done to you?" She exclaimed as she climbed up the fire escape.

"Can you keep it down?" Raph shushed her. "Ya gonna get us seen."

"Nyx?" Mikey questioned climbing up after Mona.

Mona nodded solemnly. "It's what I named my bike."

"Uh-huh." Mikey leaned over to Donnie. "Don what's a Nyx?"

"The Greek goddess of the night." He informed his little brother.

"Oh. Cool."

Mona slid open her apartment window and climbed through. She leaned out the window to face the four turtles. "So am I ever going to see you guys again?"

"I don't see why not. You work for April don't you?"Leo told her.

"Oh yeah April. Red's got some serious explaining to do next time I see her." Mona shook her head."Hey wait here a second."

Mona left her window and disappeared inside her came back a few moments later holding a folded piece of paper. Mona leaned out the window and handed the paper to Michelangelo. "Here, you guys call me any time or just show up here. Don't come to my school though. they think a weirdo as it is, I don't need giant turtles showing up and adding to that theory."

"See you Mona." Donatello called as he jumped off the edge of the fire escape. Raph and Leo followed suit while Mikey came slowly down the stairs, never taking his eyes off the piece of paper.

"You coming Mikey?" Leo asked before he climbed down the manhole.

"Guys....She gave me her Number!"

...

ON CAMPUS:

Mona walked across campus, clutching her books to her chest. She was on her way to her next class when her phone went off. Shifting her all books into one arm, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone.

"Talk to me."

"Hey Mona, it's Donnie."

"Donnie!" Her mood brightened. "I knew I'd hear from you in my first week of college. what's up? Let me guess, you wanna hear how my classes are going?"

"Well no actually, that's not why I'm calling. Mikey wants to know if your able to come cook dinner for us tonight."

"Again?"

"It's Leo's turn to cook." Donnie told her.

"Ah." In the few months she had known the turtles she had learned everything about them. Including Leo's unfortunate cooking skills. She came over one night while Leo was cooking and seeing the catastrophe that was their meal, offered to cook for them instead. Ever since then, Michelangelo would always find an excuse to invite Mona over whenever it was Leo's turn to cook. "Sorry Donnie I can't come over tonight. I've got some school work to do."

"Please Mona? Please Please Pleaseee?" She heard Mikey's voice yell through the reciever.

Mona laughed. "Sorry Mikey. But I've really got work to do."

"Aww Mona.."

"Mikey go away" Donnie pushed his brother away from the phone. "Sorry Mona."

"No problem. I'll see you later this week right?"

"Of course. Bye."

"See you." She hung up and checked the time. "Oh crap I'm late." and with that she shoved her cell in her pocket and ran to her next class.

...

THE LAIR:

Mikey dragged himself over to the couch and threw himself down on the cushions next to one of his brothers.

"Whats wrong wit you?" Raphael asked, not that he actually cared.

"Mona Lisa isn't coming over." Mikey sulked.

"And?"

"It's Leo's turn to cook."

"Oh"

"This isn't Fair!" He said childishly.

"She's got a life out of us Mikey." Raph flicked through the TV channels. Nothing good on.

"Yeah but it's Leo's cooking Raph. Leo!!"

"What about my cooking?" Their oldest brother asked as he left the dojo and joined them.

"Oh nothing." Mike said quickly.

Raphael turned on the couch to face Leo. "Mikey thinks your a lousy cook."

"Mikey!"

"what you complaining about? You know your a bad cook." The red turtle told him.

"Well at least I help out around here Raph."

"Whatever fearless." He turned the TV off and rose from his seat. Raph had been through this enough times to know where it would end. They'd start out having a conversation, which would turn into a disagreement, which would turn into an argument, which would end in Raphael leaving the lair to cool off. Raph thought he'd save himself some time by skipping straight to the last step.

"Where are you going?"

He grabbed his trench coat and fedora off the rack near the door."Out."

...

AT MONA'S:

"C'mon girl, you can do this. You know all this, all you've got to do is put it on paper." She told her self. Mona stared at the piece of paper in front of her. It had been in that same position for an hour and so far only held one sentence. She focused on the paper, staring at it til her head began to hurt. "Man girl, you are so overworked."

Mona glanced around her apartment, happy to look at _anything_ besides that annoying piece of paper in front of her. Her eyes trailed to her apartment window where she noticed her guitar leaning against the wall next to it. "Time for a break."

Jumping up from her chair, she grabbed her guitar and headed up the fire escape to the roof. Making it to the top of the building, she walked over to her favorite ledge and sat down. The ledge over looked the entire city, from it she saw everything. Mona sat for a moment and watched the world go by. She lifted her guitar into it's position on her lap. The instrument was old and battered. It had been through a lot, just like she had. She sat for a while, plucking some familiar chords until a song formed.

"_Without you  
The hand gropes  
The ear hears  
The pulse beats_

_Life goes on  
But I'm gone  
Cause I die without you  
I die without you  
I die without you-"_

Mona was cut short when a huge mass came flying out of nowhere and landed in front of her. She screamed and almost fell off the roof. Putting down the guitar, she moved forward slowly but cautiously. When she was inches away from it she finally realized what it was. Or rather, who it was.

"Raphael?"

The pile groaned. It was him alright. Battered and bruised, but him none the less. He was covered in cuts and his green skin was stain with black and blue bruises. His trench coat was badly torn in several different places and blood was seeping through the left arm. On closer inspection, Mona noticed the bullet hole through the sleeve.

"Jesus Christ Raphael what happened to you?" He groaned again. That seemed to be the only thing he could do. "Come on. We've got to get you to a hospital."

This woke him up somewhat. "Can't...Giant Turtle....remember?" He managed to say.

"well I can't just let you bleed to death. We've got to get you inside." How Mona was able to get a semi-conscious Raphael down the fire escape and into her apartment she didn't know, but they made it inside and he collapsed on the disappeared into the bathroom for a few minutes and returned with a first Aid kit that rivaled the one Donatello had.

"take this off." she pointed to the trench coat.

"Sorry babe...don't undress on the first date."

"Just do it." She ordered, opening the First aid kit and taking out the tool she needed. Raph did as he was told and shrugged off his trench coat.

"Where's my hat?" Raph mumbled.

"What?" Mona wasn't paying attention, she was busy with swabs and a disgusting brown liquid that Raphael had grown familiar with through his past trips to the emergency room (AKA: Donnie's lab). Mona moved next to him and position herself in a way that allowed her enough to work and still be comfortable. She cleaned the open wound on Raph's shoulder and the steady flow of blood that had been stopped by the small clot of dried blood that had formed there started up again. She picked up a large pair of tweezers and stared at the wound for a moment. "hold still. This is going to hurt a bit."

"Whu? No, what are you doing?" He pulled his arm away from her and looked at her like she was crazy.

"OK." She shrugged. "The way see it, you have 2 options if I don't remove that thing: 1. you can either bleed to death, or 2. you can leave that bullet in there until it clots. Either way your screwed. But if your such a princess that you can't take a teensy bit of pain then-"

"Who you callin' princess? I aint no princess."

"You kinda are Doll face. Don't hate it, own it." She said with sass.

He sighed. "Fine. But don't butcher my arm." He held out his arm as an offering.

Mona pulled out a weird, white, plastic stick and handed it to him. "Here. Bite this."

"Why?"

"So I don't have to listen to your complaining."

"You don't have pain killers in there?"

Raph bit down on the stick and Mona Lisa got to work. she removed the bullet and placed it in a small bowl on the coffee table. She did all the usual stuff that Don or April did whenever they patched him up, except this time Leo wasn't here to lecture him. when it was time to stitch him up Mona pulled out a needle and thread from her kit. "Don't worry." She told him. "It's sterilized."

"Where da hell did you get all dis stuff?" He asked. He still had the stick in his mouth and he wasn't sure if Mona would understand him, but she did.

"I told you my sister wants to be a cardiologist. She gave them to me. She's got tonnes of medical supplies. where _she_ got them from, I have no idea."

"Your family is so weird."

"This coming from a 5 ft. tall talking turtle that lives in a sewer with other talking turtles and a giant rat."

"Good point." he said, taking the weird biting stick thingy out of his mouth so he could talk properly.

"OK that should do it." She said cutting the thread with a tiny pair of scissors. "Now these are dissolving stitches so they should be gone by the time the wound heals."She bandaged the wound and pat Raphael on the shoulder. "There. That wasn't so hard, was it doll face?"

Raph examined the bandage on his arm and smiled. "Thanks Mona."

"No problem doll face."

"Do ya have to calll me that?"

"Why not Raphael?"

He looked up at her. "You know, you can call me Raph."

"OK...Raph." She said, trying out the word. "Raph. Raph. You know what, I don't like it. I'm going to stick with calling you doll face."

he rolled his eyes at her. Mona ignored him and went on with packing up the mess that was made while she was playing doctor.

"So.. you gonna tell me how this happened?" She picked up the large kit and tool it back to the bathroom.

"I had a fight with Leo."

"And he shot you?!"

"What? No. It wasn't really a fight, he started bugging me so I left. Got to the rooftops, saw some hoodlums breaking into this place so went down to bust some heads. Turns out the hoodlums had friends...and guns."

"And this is a regular occurrence?"

"In my family? yeah" Raph put his feet up on the coffee table and Mona walked past and pushed them off again.

"You just going to sit there or are you going to help me clean up?" She put her hands on her hips and stared down at him.

"Injured." He said, pointing at his arm. Mona glared at him. "Oh fine I'll help."

She smiled."Thank you."

The apartment was silent for a while as the two of them cleaned. It didn't take long to get everything back to the way it was.

"your pretty good you know"

"At what?"

"At singing."

Mona stood up right. "You heard me?"

"Yeah"

"Huh" She said. "Didn't think you'd be able to hear anything. You know, with all that blood building up in your ears and all."

"Oh ha ha ha." He laughed sarcastically. He picked up the last of the used swabs and threw it in the waste bin Mona was holding. Silently, Raph turned and headed to the fire escape.

"So you leaving now?" She asked him. Raph could have sworn she sounded upset but he had no idea why.

"Well I don't have to. I mean I got nuthin' better to do. What about you?"

"Well I have to write an essay but that's getting nowhere. You want to stay for a while? we could order pizza."

"Sure, why not." He walked back over and sat beside Mona on the couch.

"Does this mean we're friends now?"

Raph thought for a moment. "I guess so."

....

AT THE LAIR:

The table was set and dinner was ready when Leo called them in. Each member of the family slowly crept into the kitchen and took their normal place at the table. The dread of the coming meal was evident on their face.

"I hope you guys like it." Leo said, placing their plates down in front of them. What "it" was they weren't quite sure. The food (if you could call it that) had lost all distinguishable color and shape and the smell, well, the smell was something that couldn't be described.

"Thank you, my son, for cooking us this...uh, meal." Master splinter poked at the food with a pair of chopsticks.

"Hey where's Raph?" Donnie looked around for his angry brother.

"I don't know" Leo said. "But if he doesn't come home soon, He'll miss out on dinner."

"lucky guy" Michelangelo mumbled.

...

TA DA! I shall be taking your opinions now. If you have any ;). oh BTW, Mona and the turtles have known each other for about 3 months but during that time she and Raph weren't that close. This chapter just shows how they became friends. Next chapter involves the foot ninja. Hopefully. Wish me luck with my exams. XD

xoxo


	9. Running out of Patience

Hey guys, usually I don't update this often so this is kinda weird for me. Probably coz I have so many days off and I got to do something with them (they're meant to be used as 'study time' but that's not going to happen). BTW that bite stick thingy is real. I didn't make it up. A friend of mine has some, they use them in the army(I think). Usually they have some kind of pain killer in them. Please forgive me the lousiness previous chapters and any chapters to come. I like to skip between places because I get really bored easily so if that confuses anyone sorry. Don't own the turtles, wish I did coz then I'd be rich and have giant talking turtles.

...

He powered through the halls, anyone who got in his way didn't live to apologize. Paths cleared and doors opened for him. Nobody wanted to get on the Shredder's bad side when he was angry. Karai stood on his right, trailing behind him. She was the only one who dared to get that close to the Shredder. Two foot ninja rushed to open the door before he reached them, unfortunately they failed and ended up colliding with the wall as the shredder knocked them out of his way and pushed through the doors.

"Where Are They?!" He yelled in a fit of rage.

Every other scientist in the lab stepped aside to reveal the location of Prof. Perry and Dr. Stockman. The Shredder practically ran towards Prof. Perry and threw him against the wall. He pinned him to the wall, his hands wrapped around the scientist's neck.

"You." Shredder leaned in closer, causing Perry to cower back into the wall. "What is taking you so long?"

"Please, Mister Shredder. You see, this is a very delicate operation we have here. It takes time and patience-"

"Patience! I have run out of patience." He tightened his grip on the mans throat. "I am done waiting. Now tell me, is it ready?"

"...No" He managed to choke out.

"Wrong answer." The shredder raised his hand to strike the cowering man when a voice behind him spoke up.

"Now Shredder, you know these things take time, you can't have a time limit when you're playing God." Baxter Stockman spoke to him as if he were a colleague not a kidnapper. The shredder let go of Prof. Perry, who slide down the wall coughing and spluttering. "Because of the..._pressure_ you've been putting on us, we've made breakthroughs that would usually take years to do, but you can't speed up this process any more than you all ready have."

"You dare tell me what to do?" He walked over to Stockman, who seemed more focused on his work than on the giant metal death threat he was angering.

"No, of course not. I'm just saying do you want this done right or want this done fast?" He lowered his work and stared Shredder in the eye.

"I want it done. And I want it done now."

Dr. Stockman fixed his glasses, giving the Shredder an incredulous look. "Do you remember what happened the last time you tried to rush our work, and the time before that. If you want this done right you have to give us time. You do want to take down those turtles don't you?"

The shredder stared at the doctor for some time before backing off and heading towards the door. "You have one week."

"A week?" Prof. Perry repeated, getting off the floor and going to stand beside his colleague. "But the work we have to do would take a month at the least."

"One week. If your work is not finished by then, _you_ will be." He flung the doors open and walked out without a backwards glance.

"Good luck gentlemen." Karai smiled, closing the door behind them.

...

AT THE LAIR:

_"And that fluffy kitten played with that piece of string all through the night. Now in other news, police are still baffled by the disappearance of scientists Professor Jordan Perry and Doctor Baxter Stockman. Reports say that police have searched the crime seen several times and found no evidence of the kidnapper. On the subject of the two missing scientists, the police chief had this to say-"_

Leonardo switched the TV off before he could hear anymore. "I just don't get it." He told his brother Raph. "How could two well known people just drop off the face of the earth like that?"

"Ya do realize I was watching that?"Raph looked at his brother and knew now wasn't the time to mess with him. "I don't know Leo, they just do. This is New York. weird stuff happens here, you should know that."

"Yes, but the police have been searching for months, _we've_ been searching for months, and neither of us have found anything."

Raph shrugged."Maybe whoever did this didn't want to be found."

"I don't like this Raph." He said, sitting back down on the couch. "I don't like knowing that someones in trouble and there's nothing we can do to help."

"Well" Raphael stood up and faced his brother. "Ya can't win 'em all Leo. I'm hungry. Ya want something to eat?"

"No thanks." his brother said gloomily

Raph walked past him and headed towards the kitchen. _That's Leo for ya. _He thought. _Always trying to save the world._ He walked into the kitchen and saw two people sitting at the table. One, of course, was his brother Mikey and the other was their resent addition to their very limited supply of human friends, Mona Lisa. they sat at the table, books and papers spread out in front of them.

"...And an object at rest will stay at rest until acted upon by another force. Basically that means that a moving object won't stop until something stops it , i.e. friction or gravity, and motionless object won't move until something moves it, i.e. a push. Oh, hey Raph." She smiled at him as he walked through the door.

"Uh, hey Mona. W-what are ya doing?" His voice was full of confusion as he look back between Mona and Mikey and the massive pile of books between them.

"Teaching Mikey physics." She told him proudly. "He said he wanted to learn some stuff about science and asked if I could teach him."

"Oh yes, science I'm all for it." Mikey as brightly as he could. Raphael knew Mikey better than to think that he actually wanted to learn science. He knew his little brother had some kind of ulterior motive. "Now if you would be so kind as to leave so we could get on with my education. Mona, what was it you were saying about...objects?"

Raph watched his brother grin seductively at Mona. At least, Mikey was trying to. All his attempts to look cool were going completely unnoticed by Mona. Raph, on the other hand, picked up on all the tricks his brother was trying to pull. He let out an annoyed sigh and grabbed Mona by the wrist. "C'mon, I'm taking ya home."

"Why?" She asked as she was pulled out of the kitchen. Raph grabbed her bag off the chair and handed it to her on the way out.

"Coz teaching Science to Mikey is like teaching a parrot to drive."

"OK...um, bye guys" Was all she could say before she was pulled out of the lair.

They walked through the sewers in silence, neither one looking at the other. Raphael stared at the walls and Mona Lisa focused all her attention on her feet. Raph felt like a complete idiot for pulling her out of there so abruptly. He was actually surprised that she hadn't gone off about it yet, usually when he did something stupid like that Mona would stand her ground and give him a piece of her mind. Tonight she was silent.

"Why'd you do it?" She finally said.

"Huh?"Raphael was completely unprepared for talking. Silence he could handle. Yelling, sure. But her just asking him straight out? that took him by surprise.

"Why'd you pull me out of there so fast." She didn't sound angry, just curious.

"Mikey has a crush on you." He finally said.

Mona laughed and shook her head. "You don't think I know that?"

"You do? Then why'd you agree to teach him?"

"Because I wanted to see if I _could_ actually teach him science. If I can teach physics to him, I can teach it to anyone." She said, stretching her arms out in a dramatic fashion. "Plus, it's physics. Who doesn't want to know about physics. Physics is everything. It's how we move, they way we talk, even how you fight. Everything in the universe comes down to physics."

"You are such a nerd." he informed her.

Mona acted offended. "I am not a nerd.....Nerds aren't this pretty." She flicked her hair back to make her point.

He laughed at her. "Good point."

"You think I'm pretty?" She smiled brightly.

"What? No, I didn't say that."

"So you're saying I'm ugly?"

"I didn't say that either."

"Well if I'm not pretty and I'm not ugly then what am I?"

Raph struggled to find words. Why did girls always put guys in awkward positions? "Uhh.....OK?"

"I'm OK? Just OK? Gee, Raph you really know how to flatter a lady."

"Fine, Fine!" Raph threw his hands in the air in defeat. " You're pretty OK? I think you're pretty."

"Aw thanks Doll." Mona hugged him. "Of course it doesn't mean much now that I made you say it."

"ARGH!! Damn Women!" He yelled as Mona skipped off down the sewer.

Mona reached the manhole she now knew led to the alley next to her apartment. She climbed out and waited for Raph on the surface. He took a while due to his mumbling about how he'll ' never understand girls. They're all so weird...'.

"So what do we do now?" She asked him when he finally appeared out of the sewers.

"What do ya mean?" He said, leaning on the fire escape next to her.

"It's a Saturday night. I don't want to be at home by myself on a Saturday night." She said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Don't you got friends?"

"OK, first of all, it's 'don't you have friends' and second of all, yes I do but they're all busy tonight. Why else would I be tutoring Mikey on a Saturday night?"

"If you're always correctin' people like that then it's no wonder you don't have any friends."

"I have friends! They're just busy.....I know, you can hang with me. We'll be gal pals for the night." Mona clapped her hands together excitedly.

Raph shook his head. "I ain't being nobody's gal pal - correct me again and I swear I'll leave right now - and I can't go out, g-"

"Yeah, I know, I know" She cut him off. " 'Giant turtle'." She mimicked his gruff Brooklyn accent. "There has to be something I can do tonight."

A smile flashed across Raph's face. "C'mon."

He grabbed her hand and pulled her up the fire escape and onto the roof. He walked over to an edge and stood there for a while, trying to determine something. Finally he turned and face Mona. "You're a gymnast right?" he asked.

"Yeah and a runner. Why?" Mona seemed skeptical. Whatever Raph was planning didn't sound safe.

He looked from her, to the rooftops, then back again. "How far can you jump?"

...

"One, Two, Three!" He called.

They ran towards the edge of the rooftop and jumped off. Raph first, followed closely by Mona. He lead her through the rooftops of the city, to his surprise she was able to keep up pretty well. Of course, Raph had more skill but Mona's athleticism and determination didn't let her down. Raphael made sure the rooftops they traveled on were close. Well, close enough that he didn't need to carry Mona across anyway. She seemed to be doing pretty well, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, landing with the precision and grace of a gymnast. She was fast. Raph could barely match her speed, but since she was knew to rooftop jumping that seemed to slow her down somewhat. He flipped across a rooftop, landing perfectly before running again.

"Show off" Mona called, joining him on the other side. She couldn't pull of any of the fancy tricks Raph could, all she could do was jump and hope to land safely on the other roof.

"Keep up, we're almost there." He called back. Raph saw the final ledge coming up in front of him. He speed up and threw himself off the edge of the building, landing perfectly on the other. "Well, it looks like I won Mona. Mona?"He turned around to see Mona standing on the ledge of the other building looking down. "What are you doing over there?" He yelled out to her.

"Raph, I can't jump this!"

"Yes you can!" he told her. "Just forget everything you know about gravity."

Mona looked at him like he was crazy. "Everything?"

"Everything."

"But I'm a physicist."

"Mona, do you trust me?" She nodded. "Then jump."

She took a deep breath and moved back for a running start. She closed her eyes and lunged towards the edge of the building. Mona flew through the air and didn't open her eyes until she felt her feet against the ground(or in this case, roof). She opened her eyes and beamed at her own accomplishment.

"Very good." Raph nodded. " Now c'mon, we got stuff to do."

He lead he down the side of the building- which turned out to be an old warehouse -and around the corner till he found an old metal door leading inside. The door was locked by one of those computer keypad systems. Raph punched in a code and the door creaked open.

"Close your eyes." He told her.

"What?"

"Just do it." Mona obeyed and Raph led her inside and stood her in the middle of the room. "wait here."

She heard a door close and the sound of a huge machine powering up. All of a sudden she could feel light on her eyelids and hear the gentle hum of machinery.

"Open 'em."

She couldn't believe what she saw. A warehouse full of equipment. Machines, computers, vehicles. All lined up ready to be used, to be fixed, to be experimented with. She walked around the room, taking in the vast array of transportation that was kept there. "This....this is incredible."

Raph scratched the back of his head. "Well, I'd thank ya but Donnie did most of this work."

"Donnie's a genius." She said as if it were some kind of secret. "What is this place?"

"This is just where we keep all our rides and junk. Battleshell. Shellcycle. That kinda stuff."

"You guys just add 'shell' to the front of everything don't you? Kinda like Batman." She mused.

"Yeah, well, I don't name the stuff." He informed her. "Come here, I'll teach ya how to get in so you can come here whenever you want."

Her eyes widened. "I can come here whenever I want? Are you sure your brothers are OK with this, Doll?"

"Course they are. Donnie was thinkin' 'bout showing you this place so you could help him with his work. I just beat him to it."

he headed over to a fuse box over by the door and Mona followed suit. This was by far the coolest place she had ever been and she was not going to miss out on any of it.

...

A WEEK LATER:

The doors to the lab flung open and The Shredder, followed by Karai and a small army of foot ninja, burst in.

"Where Is It?!" He yelled.

"These things take time, Shredder. Just give us a few more days please." Prof. Perry begged as the Shredder approached them.

"Is it ready?" He asked menacingly.

"Well, yes and no." Baxter Stockman told him, holding a vile of serum into the light and inspecting it.

"What do you mean?"

Baxter put down the vile and walked over to another work bench. "There are still some kinks, errors, side effects if you will."

"Side effects?" The Shredder looked at Prof. Perry who nodded. "Would still work?"

"Well, theoretically, yes." Perry told him. "But it would be extremely dangerous for the subject in question."

The Shredder looked between the two scientists. "Do it."

"What? Are you crazy?!" Shredder turned and raised his hand at Prof. Perry. "Of course your not crazy. But do you really want to do this. Think of....uh, your foot ninja. You wasted so many lives the last time you tried this experiment on them. Do you really want to risk your best men on an experiment?"

"I can get more me-" The Shredder stopped his tracks as an idea struck him. "No Professor Perry, your right. Experimenting on my own men would be barbaric. I have someone much better in mind."

Perry looked frazzled. "What do you mean? Much better? Who? Shredder, what are you-"

"Silence!" He commanded. "Karai, gather your men. You're going to pay a visit to our old friend at the antique store."

...

AHH! What's going to happen? Well, if you ask me it's pretty obvious but that's probably coz I know whats going to happen. If you guys have any ideas for me I'd love to hear them. Sorry this chapter is kinda long. I got slightly carried away with my Raph/Mona moment. The 'Kitten' line in the little news part is from the Simpsons (you gotta love Kent Brockman). Happy Easter my people. I luv you all! xoxo


	10. O'Neil Confusion

OK guys next chapter. Sorry if my random updating is giving everybody whiplash but I seem to run out of ideas just as quickly as I get them. I don't own the Ninja Turtles (as we're all well aware of). Completely off the subject but who else is obsessed with toy story 3 right now? It came out in Australia the other day and I was all like "WOOOOOOO!" Isn't it awesome? I cried. Anyway back on topic, this is the next chapter and I hope you guys like.

...

Mona stood behind the store counter watching April pace back and forth. Casey was late and, although Mona would never tell April this, she found that extremely amusing. It was always entertaining to watch Casey get in trouble. It wasn't that Mona didn't like Casey, in fact she saw him as one of her closest friends, it was just fun to mess with him, and the best way to mess with him was through April. Mona drew her attention back to April, who was still pacing around like mad.

"Calm down Red, your gonna burn a hole in the carpet." Mona said, fiddling with one of the pens on the counter. "And besides, you don't want to get that pretty dress ruined do you?"

April looked down at her dress. It was made of yellow silk and stopped just above her knees. Her hair was pulled up in a loose bun and she wore a pair of glittering earrings that match perfectly with the necklace she had on. It took a moment for her to realize that she had put too much work into herself to ruin it through stress. "Well where is he?" She asked, fixing up her dress.

"Oh probably out fighting crime" That was what Mona said whenever Casey was missing. She had only recently learned that it was true. Every night Casey would don his hockey gear and go play vigilante with some of the turtles...usually Raph.

April shot her a dirty look and was about to say something when the familiar sounds of motorbike engines. The sound came to an abrupt halt and the two women heard voices get louder and louder until they reached the back door.

"Hey Babe!" Casey called as he walked through the back of the store. As Mona had suspected he was wearing his vigilante get-up and had Raphael with him.

"Oooh your in for it now." Mona whispered, trying to hide her smile behind the pen.

Whatever sanity April had been trying to hold on to completely disappeared as she stormed over to Casey. "Casey Jones where have you been? What the hell are you wearing? Get upstairs right now and change! i can't believe you would do this tonight of all nights!"

"Why, what's tonight?"

"Wrong question, buddy" Raph said to himself.

"_Anniversary_" Mona mouthed from behind April, she might not get along with Casey but she didn't want April to kill him.

"Of what?" He asked bluntly. Mona and Raphael both cringed at his answer and prepared themselves for what was going to follow.

April lost hold of whatever sanity had left. Of what? OF WHAT? Of all the selfish, lazy, inconsiderate men in the world why did I have to choose you? Our Anniversary, Casey, It's _OUR _anniversary! I've been telling you for weeks now. I told you yesterday, I told you _This Morning_! How could you forget?"

"Look babe, I'm sorry alright? I didn't mean to forget, I guess I just...got distracted. Listen, I'll make it up to you OK? How 'bout I take you out to dinner?" Casey offered, trying to win April over.

"We were _supposed _to be going out to dinner tonight anyway." April yelled in annoyance. Casey just looked at her apologetically and stayed silent.

April sighed. "alright," she said softly. "Just go upstairs, get dressed and we'll go. I don't have time to deal with this right now."

Without a word, Casey climbed the stairs and went to get changed. April stood there for a while, all her rage turned to sadness.

"April, sweetie, are you OK?" Mona asked, putting her hand on Aprils shoulder.

She nodded" Yeah, I'm fine guys...I'll be back in a second." April slowly headed up the stairs in search of Casey, leaving Mona and Raph alone in her store.

"Wow..." Raph said after a while "Women really are crazy."

"Hey, he forgot their anniversary, she has a right to be crazy." Mona snapped at him.

"Aw c'mon Mona it's just a day, April has no right to get all cranky over that"

"Men!" She cried, throwing her hands in the air "Look, it doesn't matter what it is, it's important to April so it should be important to Casey too."

"Why?"

"Because...that's how it is in a relationship. When you care care about someone then what matters to them, matters to you." She said sweetly.

"Uh-huh, so where do you stand with this anniversary stuff?"

"Oh, I don't really care that much."

"So you wouldn't care if I guy forgot it?"

"Are you kidding?" She nearly yelled at him. "If a guy forgot our anniversary I would rip him to shreads."

Raphael looked confused. "but you just said-"

"It doesn't matter what I said" Mona explained to him. "Women say lots of things, the point is if he forgets hes screwed."

"Can't they just say what they mean and stick to it?"

Mona shook her head. "Not how it works, doll."

"And could you stop calling me 'doll'?" he told her. "I never hear you call anyone else doll."

"Fine, what else do you want me to call you? I could call you munchkin or princess or babyface or sweetums-"

"Mona!"

"Or, hears a good one, 'Pumpkin'!"

"Mona..."

"Oh fine!" She pouted. "Oh my God I almost forgot."Suddenly her face lit up and she ran to the back room, returning with a shopping bag. "Here."

Raph took the bag off her. "Uh...thanks?"

"Open it." She laughed.

Raphael opened the bag and pulled out a fedora. It was old and beaten but still in one piece. "Is this...my hat?"

"Uh huh. I found it on the roof the other day." She told him, still smiling. "I decided I was going to add a little something to it before I gave it back Look inside."

He flipped the hat around, looking for whatever 'modification' Mona could of added to it. Then he saw it. Tiny pink stitching that read "_To Dollface, This is what you get for leaving your stuff at my place. Love Mona_"

...

Mona stood behind the counter playing with the same pen she'd been holding for over 3 hours now. The cap had gone missing and the ink had started to leak but she still hadn't put it down. She was alone in the store, April and Casey had left on their date and Raphael had gone when Mona informed him that having a giant turtle in the store wasn't good for business. He seemed very hesitant on leaving, claiming that he'd seen 'like 100' foot ninja tonight and it might not be safe for her in the store. Mona just laughed in his face and told him that if he wanted to hang out with her so badly then she would come over tomorrow night. Raph just grunted at her and left after that. He was still mad at her for 'ruining' his hat.

She twirl the pen between her fingers and started writing equations on the counter-again. Mona was pretty sure that April would make her clean them off like she did last time but Mona didn't care, she was too busy trying not to die from boredom. Why April kept the store open at night was beyond her. Who went shopping for antiques in the middle of the night? Actually, Mona didn't care as long as she got paid. More time went by and more equations were drawn on the counter top. It was just about time to close up when Mona heard a bell ring.

"Hello?" She called out. She craned her neck to get a better view of the door. No one was there. she shook her head and went back to graffiting store property.

Until the bell chimed again.

She looked up. "OK, I know I didn't imagine that."

Mona got up and slowly headed towards the door. Her view of corners was blocked by millions of antiques, Mona couldn't see anything except what was in front of her. Her heart was racing as her mind played out every possible scenario that it could think of. Finally, she got to a place where she had a clear view of the door and saw...nothing. Just the door singing back and forth in the wind. She let out a sigh and went to pull it shut, mentally scolding herself for being so paranoid.

"Stupid wind." She muttered to herself as she turned around and began heading back to the store counter.

"Are you Miss O'Neil?" Mona screamed and jumped back as a black figure appeared in front of her. She recognized it immediately. It was one of those 'foot ninja' the guys were always talking about, the ones that jumped her in the alleyway. She backed away and started running for the door, only to be stopped by another foot ninja.

"There's no use trying to escape, Miss O'Neil." The first one said as his buddy's began crawling out of the shadows. The were dozens of them, it was a miracle they all fit in the store.

Mona spun around wildly, trying to find a way out. "M-miss O'Neil? W-what are y-you talking about?" She had no idea what was going on. Did hese guys think she was April?

"Are you Miss O'Neil?" the First guy repeated. "Do you know the turtles?"

That got Mona's attention. "The turtles? The guys? What do you want with them?"

"Ah" Mona couldn't see his face but it sounded like he was smiling. "So you do know them."

"Yeah I know the turtles." She said slowly. "But I'm not telling you where they are so if you think-"

"Oh, Miss O'Neil," the first guy laughed. "It's not the turtles we want. It's You."

"What do you want with Miss O'Neil, I mean April, I mean _me_." Mona may not have known what was going on but there was no way she was giving April up to these guys. If they were really so stupid as to think she was April, then she would have to be April. "fine, you guys want me, then your going to have to come get me. I took you on once, I can do it again...I think."

"As you wish, Miss O'Neil."

...

AT THE LAIR:

Donnie sat in his lab working on his latest invention, while his brothers, Mikey and Raph, were up to their usual business of fighting over the remote.

"Raph, give it back, you had your turn!"

"Who says you even get a turn!"

"But I wanna play Super Mario Carts!"

"Not while I'm watching wrestling you ain't"

"Guys, could you knock it off" Don called from his lab. "I'm trying to work here."

"Sorry Donnie" They called back.

Don shook his head and went back to work. "I live with children." He muttered to himself. Slowly, the noise from the living room began again. It became so loud that Don could barely hear the telephone ring. "Can someone get that? I'm kinda busy...Guys?...Is anyone gonna answer the phone?"

He pulled himself up from his chair and walked over to the old payphone that was ringing. "Hello?" He said, slightly annoyed.

the person on the other end was in hysterics. It sounded female but Donnie couldn't make out a word she was saying through the noise.

"Hold on." He told her. Don cover the receiver with his hand and called over his shoulder. "Guys could you _please_ keep it down? I'm on the phone."

"Sorry Donnie" They called again.

Don sighed. "OK, go." He told the person on the other end.

"Donnie, it's April-"

"Oh hey April, what's up?"

"Donnie, it's the store, it's been robbed or ransacked or something. we found some stuff and we think it might be the foot again. Donnie, we've looked everywhere and we can't find her."

Don sat up straight as his ninja instincts began to kick in. "April, calm down. Start from the beginning. What happened?"

April was crying into the receiver. "She's missing, Donnie, she's missing."

"Who's missing?" Don heard April inhale sharply and he prepared himself for what she was about to say.

"Mona."

...

AHHHHHHHHHH! NOOOOO! Ok I admit it got kinda obvious and the foot ninja would have to be _really _stupid to not know who April was but whatever. I'd like to know what you think of this chapter seeing as it's been a while since I updated. I'm very excited coz it's my birthday soon (Yippee!). So comment and tell me what you think. I accept all kinds of reviews. I'm also looking for ideas so if you've got any then please share. So, while you all read this, I am going to go see toy story 3 again :)

Xx


	11. What to do with Mona

Hey guys. I'm back. Thnx for the B'day wishes. I got heaps of awesome stuff, including a laptop(which I'm using right now :D ). I don't own the ninja turtles as we all already know. This is kind of a quick update coz I have to go to work so if there's anything wrong with it tell me. I have a basic ida of whats happening next but if u guys have anything to add then tell me. Oh, just quickly, is anyone else heaps excited about the new ninja turtle series coming up in 2012 or something? I am. Ok, heres my next chapter so enjoy!

...

"We know one thing." Casey informed them, holding up a shuriken with the Foot emblem on it. "This was done by foot ninja."

"Your a genius, Casey." Raph said sarcastically. His tone was harsher than it usually was. he seemed to be taking the news of Mona's disappearance personally.

"Guys, could we please be civil for a while? This is serious." Donnie scolded them while examining April's store. The moment they got the news they were all there in a flash. Every single one of them. They had been searching the store for hours now and so far all they had found were a few broken weapons the foot left behind.

"Why are we still here anyway? we should be out looking for Mona." Raph grunted, pacing around the store.

"Where not going to accomplish anything if we don't know where she is, Raph." Leo put his hand on Raph's shoulder but Raph just shrugged it off.

"Leo's right. We don't even know what we're looking for." Don turned to April, who was still in a state of shock. "April, does this place have security tapes?"

She shook her head. "No. We cant afford any high-tech security right now. The only thing we've got is an alarm."

"Dudes, maybe we should take a break. I mean, we're getting nowhere." Mikey said, sitting on one of the tables.

"Mikey's right." Leo agreed. "We would all work alot better if we got some rest. Come on, we'll go back to the lair and try to figure things out from there."

The group reluctantly headed out the door. It took a lot of convincing to get Raphael to come along with them and not run off on some crazed vigilante hunt. The last to leave was Donnie, who was still packing up his equipment.

"You coming, Donnie?" Leo asked.

Donnie nodded and slowly got up to join Leo. "I just don't get it." He told his brother. "What would the Foot want with Mona?"

...

Black.

Everything was black.

Wait,scratch that. She did see something. Small flecks of white light dancing in front of her eyelids. She could feel the ground underneath her, it was cold and hard. Concrete. And she could hear something too. She could hear noises. Like buzzing. The buzzing got louder and louder. The buzzing became more distinct, like voices. She heard footsteps, too. Whoever was talking was also moving closer towards her. The footsteps stopped and Mona froze, refusing to move or even open her eyes. She just lay there, on the cold hard floor, hoping they wouldn't notice her.

"IDIOTS!" It was the voice of the footsteps. It had to be. The voice was dark and deep and metallic sounding. Mona didn't like it. She had a feeling she wouldn't like this person, either. "I told you to bring me back April O'Neil, not some little girl!"

"Master, I apologize for the foolishness of the soldiers. They _should have _known better."

"Enough! I don't want to hear it. Where are Stockman and Perry?"

Mona heard more footsteps that stopped short then a voice. "Aah, Shredder, back so soon?" The guy sounded cocky, and Mona was pretty sure that creepy voice wouldn't like that.

"Don't test me today, Stockman, I assure you it will be the last thing you ever do." She was right. "Where is Perry?"

"O-over here, over here." cried a nervous voice. Mona could make out the sound of papers shuffling. "What is it Mister Shredder?"

"How far along have we gotten with the serum?are there still problems?"

"The serum?" More papers shuffling. "Well lets see, we haven't actually worked out the errors-"

"Wonderfully, Shredder we're going wonderfully. The serum is so _close _to completion." The cocky voice cut in.

"Good. Get ready for testing."

"testing what? Shredder, we talked about this, it's not ready." Nervous guy said.

"It is ready when I say it's ready." 'Shredder' told him. "And it is ready _now_."

"Who are we testing it on?" Mona was really starting to dislike that cocky jerk.

"April O'Neil, only this time my ninja will actually _bring her back_!" He yelled.

Mona now had her eyes open, trying to process what this guy had just said. "April." She whispered. The word left her mouth before she could stop it and everyone turned to face her.

"What should we do with her, master?" The woman- the only woman in the room -asked.

"Terminate her." The Shredder said, turning to leave.

"What?NO!" The nervous man yelled. Mona was fairly certain this guy was a scientist. In fact, she was pretty sure she had seen him before at some lecture. "You can't just kill an innocent person!"

_thank you, nervous guy._ Mona thought to herself.

"Professor Perry is right, you can't just dispose of her." The cocky one- 'Stockman' his lab coat read -chimed in. "It would be a total waste. Shredder, I have pulled up the file on this girl and let me just say she is brilliant. Her name is Mona Lisa Gherardini, She a national champion of Gymnastics, made the Olympic track team, sung for the national choir until she was sixteen and her accomplishments in science are_ amazing. _She won awards for chemistry, biology, physics. She currently attends NYU where she studies _theoretical_ physics. The girl is a child prodigy."

"Why are you telling me this Stockman?"

"Be patient, Shredder, it gets better. Her parents died two years ago and what remains of her family lives in California. She has no legal guardian and no close friends or family. This girl could drop off the face of the earth and no one would notice."

"gee, thanks." Mona scoffed. Everyone in the room turned around and gave her death stares. She decided it was better to stay quiet after that.

"Shredder, this girl is fit, she's intelligent and she has no one that will come looking for her. She's the perfect test subject."

The Shredder paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts.

"Master?" One of the foot ninja said. "She does know the turtles. She said so herself."

This seemed to make up his mind. He looked over at Stockman. "Fine. Use her for your experiments. just make sure they work."

The Shredder stormed out of the room wit his loyal band of foot ninja close in tow. It was only then that Mona realized where she was. She was sitting in some kind of prison cell, similar to the ones they kept those zoo animals in during the sixties. The cell was attached to a huge laboratory. The lab was filled to the brim with high-tech equipment, but Mona was in no mood to notice it. She sat in the corner with her arms wrapped around her knees, tears streaming down her face.

At first she didn't notice him. She was too caught up in her own thoughts to notice anything. But then she saw him, out of the corner of her eye. He was kneeling down, leaning against the bars, trying to get as close to her as he could. He had mousy brown hair and round glasses and his face was filled with sadness and regret.

"Your Mona Lisa? My name is Professor Perry." He told her.

"...I know." She finally managed to whisper. "You taught me, once...kinda. You were giving a lecture at my high school."

He let out a hollow laugh. "I remember that. No one listened."

She looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears. "I did."

The professor just sat there, shocked. What was he doing? How could he go through with this? She was just a child. She had so much potential. He looked at her, on the brink of crying himself. "I am so sorry."

Mona turned away, signaling the end of the conversation.

"Your going to get you out of this." He said, standing up. "I promise."

Mona watched him walk away. "I know." She whispered.

...

Sooo what'd u all think? Do i need to work on it? tell me. My cat says Hi (she decided to sit on my lap while I was writing so she gets to b mentioned too). I don't really have much to say here. Happy first of July guys.

Xx


	12. A plan

I know this took a while and I'm really sorry guys. I've been having serious problems with my computer so I had to get the hard drive wiped. Then I tried to use my laptop but my USB gave that the same viruses my computer had so I had to spend like 3 months without a computer. I've also been having a bit of trouble myself, but I don't want to make any excuses. I hope this chapter is good enough for you guys!

…

Silence filled the room and the air was thick with incense as Master Splinter and Raphael sat together in meditation. The old rat was worried about his son. Raphael was always one to let his emotions get the better of him but this was something different. He was angry all the time and his patience had gone from short to non-existent. This had all started, Splinter noticed, when they had discovered that Mona Lisa had been kidnapped. His son had become overly aggressive and violent; in fact, Splinter had to ground his son just to make sure he didn't get into any trouble. So while his brothers were out searching for the missing girl, Raphael was stuck meditating with Master Splinter.

The silence was abruptly broken as Raphael jumped to his feet in anger. "This is completely ridiculous Master Splinter! How am we supposed to find Mona Lisa if I'm stuck here meditating with you?"

"Believe it or not Raphael," Master splinter said calmly without even opening his eyes. "Your brothers are quite capable of functioning without you."

"If they're that capable then why haven't they found Mona yet? I'll tell you why: coz they're not looking hard enough. No one out there is even trying to find Mona. They probably don't even care about what could have happened to her already. Do they even think that -"

"Raphael!" Splinter snapped. His eyes were now open and staring intently at Raphael. "Everybody is doing everything they can to find Mona Lisa. They have been searching non-stop for her for two weeks now. Everything that can be done is being done."

"But I should be out there Master, I should be helping them."

"Your mind is clouded by your emotions my son, you are of no use to Mona Lisa is you cannot even think straight."

"Argh!" Not knowing what else to say, Raph threw his hands in the air and stormed out of the dojo.

Raphael was so angry at himself. How could he have let this happened? How could he have just left her there by herself? He was right there with her in the store and he chose to leave. _I left her by herself and now she's gone._ Raphael thought as he slammed his bedroom door shut. He thought about what could have happened to her or whether she was alive or not. Raphael fell asleep wondering about the fate of his friend.

…

"Raph? RAPH! Raphael where are you? You'll never guess what we found out! Raph?"

Raphael was awakened by the shouts of his annoying little brother. Angrily, he swung his bedroom door open and yelled back to his brother. "What do you want Mikey? I'm trying to sleep here!"

"Raph you've gotta get down here!"

"Why should I?"

"Coz we know where Mona Lisa is!"

…

Mona sat quietly in her tiny prison as she listened to the obnoxious scientist rant. Apparently something went wrong with the little experiment they were performing on her. He obviously wasn't getting the results he wanted. Mona had no idea what exactly he wanted to happen to her, but she thought what he had done to her already was enough.

Staring out the bars of her cell, Mona thought of everything that had happened to her in the past 2 weeks. She had been tortured, tested and beaten repeatedly. They had run several tests on her already, just to see if she was "worthy" for the project. These tests included being attacked repeatedly by foot ninja just to see how long she could last as well as injecting her with a variety of different concoctions just to see how her body would react. If she didn't cooperate then they would beat and torture her till she complied. After she was deemed "acceptable" for the project they commenced with the real experiment. They would take Mona to the lab and strap her to the table, and began conducting their little experiments. Sometimes she was unconscious.

Most of the time she wasn't.

Even more terrifying than the experiments were their results. After the first three Mona began to feel different. She was able to see better and react quicker than she had ever been able to. She was also stronger. That was the real part they wanted to test out. Every other day they would throw her into a dark room filled with foot ninja and got her to fight them. Every day she got better at it. As her vision enhanced, Mona was able to see every foot ninja that slinked in the darkness around her. As she got stronger she became faster and more flexible than she had ever been, she was even able to jump higher.

But there were more than just physical side effects. Everyday Mona felt worse. Her head started to ache and she almost always felt queasy. She also became thirsty. She was hungry too, but it was nothing compared to her thirst. Mona was tired too. Tired and weak. She was beginning to think that she wouldn't be able to make it out of here.

"I don't care about the progress we're making, I want to know why nothing has happened yet!" Stockman yelled at his 'partner'. His voice pulled Mona out of her thoughts and back into the real world. She looked over at Stockman who was currently circling Professor Perry. "Can't you find some way to speed it up?"

"I'm sorry, but short of killing the girl there's nothing I can do!" Perry retorted. He was cowering in a corner but he still managed to keep some backbone about him.

"Well think of something. When the Shredder sees that she's still the same after all the work we've done then _we'll_ be dead!"

Professor Perry pushed past Stockman, headed over to one of the many benches and pretended to do work in attempt to get Stockman off his back. "I told you there's nothing I can do, even if there was I wouldn't tell you. I refuse to go along with this anymore; we've done enough to that poor girl. Besides, what you're trying to do is impossible. You can't _mutate_ someone to that extent."

"Yes we can. It's what we've working on all this time." Stockman insisted.

Perry turned around. "No, it's what _you've_ been working on all this time. I wanted to help people but you took it too far. You're not God and this is _science_ not science fiction. You can't just expose her to some gamma rays and expect her to gain superpowers within the next five minutes."

Stockman's eyes lit up. "Actually, that's not a bad idea."

"What? No, I was kidding. You can't actually do that to someone." Professor Perry said, shocked that Stockman could even think of something like that.

"No, it's brilliant. If we inject her with the mutagen then expose her to an extreme amount of radiation then we may be able to speed the mutation process up dramatically." Perry didn't like the look on Dr. Stockman's face. He was getting way too carried away with this 'project', as he called it. The professor had no idea what was happening but he knew it wouldn't end well.

Baxter Stockman looked over in Mona's direction and saw her staring at him. He walked over to her and leaned against the bars of her cell. "Well, Miss Mona Lisa," He said with a sickening smile. "Looks like you're not going to be human for much longer."

…

AT THE LAIR:

"All this time we've been looking in the wrong places." Donatello explained to his audience, standing in front of the large map of New York that was hanging in his lab. Splinter, Raphael, Casey and April were all listening intently as the purple-clad turtle explained to them the information that they had discovered on their latest trip to the surface. His two other brothers stood in the background and watched as Donatello told those who weren't there with them. "We've been trying to get information out of the Foot, but it hasn't been working. I mean we all know how hard it is to get information from the Foot. But you know how we can get information from?"

"The purple dragons!" Mikey said from the back of the room.

"-The Purple Dragons." Donatello finished despite his younger brothers interruption.

"Half an hour and we had those tattooed goons singing like birds." Mikey laughed.

Donnie shot him a dirty look from across the room and continued with his speech. "Anyway, it turned out that the Purple Dragons knew the location of the Foots new hide out."

"So where is it?" Raph asked, slightly agitated it was taking Donnie this long to get to the point.

"Here." Don pointed to a small point on the map behind him. "A newly refurbished warehouse on East Lairdman Island."

"OK then" Raph said, rising from his seat. "Let's go get her."

"We can't just waltz right in there and take her Raph, we don't even what part of the building she's in or what kind of security they've got up in that place."

"Well we can't just leave her there Donnie!" Raphael yelled.

"Raph" Leo put his hand on his brother shoulder. "She'll be OK. We'll get her out of there, but not without a plan."

Raphael took a deep breath and sighed. He looked over to Don. "Well, Egghead." He said. "You got a plan?"

The purple turtle smiled at his older brother. "You bet I do."

…

OK I know this took me a REALLY long time and hope it was worth the wait. It's not really that long so sorry. Will you guys forgive me for taking so long? I promise not to take so long on the next chapter. Thanks! Oh yeah, pick up on the reference in the address for the Foots headquarters?

Xx.


	13. Rescue Mission

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Sorry about this chapter, it's kinda poorly written, but I just wanted to hurry up and get to Mona so I kinda forgot about the rest. Can you blame me? I mean, who doesn't want to know what happened to her? Anyhow, I hope you all had a great Christmas, or Hanukah or whatever other holiday you celebrate. I don't own the ninja turtles and here we go…

…

The four turtles stood on the roof of the warehouse awaiting the signal from their friends down below. When Donnie had explained his plan it seemed easy enough, but now that they were here the seriousness of the situation had set in.

Donatello had gone through his plan in great detail, fearing that if he left anything out it would result in the plan failing and them losing Mona Lisa forever. The basic premise was simple. Get in, get Mona Lisa, and get out. It was the execution that required some thought. The place would be crawling with Foot ninjas and they had no idea where Mona was being kept. That was where Donnie's plan kicked in.

The four of them would go in, with Casey and April waiting in the Battle Shell on the street below. April would hack in to the Foot's mainframe and access their security system to find out where Mona Lisa was being kept. Being tapped in to the Foot's security allowed April to access their security cameras and keep the guys updated on any approaching danger. Don had set them all up with small headpieces so that they were all able to communicate with each other. Once April had found Mona's whereabouts, she would notify the guys. Once they were in they were to split up. One was to go find Mona Lisa and the other three were to go the opposite end of the building and create a distraction. They wouldn't have much time, Donnie was running under the hypothesis that the closer they got to Mona, the more security there would be. Even with April Manning the security, he estimated that it would have to take approximately five minutes for them to get out of the building once an alarm was tripped. For that reason the distraction was added to the plan. They had all decided that they needed to get Mona out safely and the only way to do that was to lead the Foot away from Mona Lisa. Whoever was with Mona would notify the others as soon as they found her and they would all make their exit.

It was already decided that Raph would be the one to go after Mona. He had volunteered the moment he heard the plan. He wasn't there to save her; he wasn't with his brothers when they found out her location. He felt like he had to do something and this was it. He was going to find her and bring her out safely. He was going to rescue her.

"Guys I found her." April's voice buzzed in their ears. "She's on the fifth floor."

"Thanks April." Donnie said, pressing the small button on his earpiece to reply.

"Well guys, looks like we're going in." Leo said to his brothers.

It took them a little longer than expected to but they were still making good time and managed to get into the building undetected. They stuck to the shadows, only taking routes that had been confirmed as potentially safe by April. Travelling downwards through the building was a little disorienting and it seemed to be taking forever to get from one level down to the other, it wasn't until April pointed it out to them that they realised they were finally on level five.

Raphael paused. It seemed to take forever to get there but now it was happening he seemed frozen in place. What if something went wrong? What if he couldn't get her out of there?

"…Raph…Raph are you ready?" Leo was shaking his arm, trying to get his attention.

Raphael snapped out of his sudden lack of confidence and forced himself to get back into the zone. "Yeah." He replied, focusing on the task ahead and preparing to break off from his brothers. "I'm ready."

…

"Umm… excuse me, could someone let me out. I really don't deserve to be here, I -"

"Quiet!" one of the head foot ninja said as he walked passed, slamming his fist against the cell door as he did so.

Shocked, Jordan Perry jumped back in his cell. He had been put there little over a week ago for refusing to participate in the Shredder's plan any longer and since then had begged every foot ninja that walked past to let him out. It was undignified and very unlike him to beg for anything, but Perry did not do well in confinement. The cell they had put him in wasn't even near the one they were keeping that poor girl in or even in the lab itself. It was several doors down the hall, cut off from the other rooms and the only human contact he had came from the occasional ninja that would walk past his door or bring him his meals.

"You….you there." He called to the two foot ninja that were walking past. "Could you please let me out now? Pardon, could you….. excuse me, wait….. COME BACK!"

The professor watched the pair of foot ninja walk straight pass and disappear down the hall. He stood there for a few moments, staring out the pane of glass in his cell door. He saw something flicker in the distance, a shadow maybe. Eventually, it moved again. And again. It got bigger and bigger as it got closer to his cell. Perry had no idea what it was; a foot ninja did not keep to the shadows like this in his own building and the Shredder, in true alpha male style, always tried to make his entrance as big and as menacing as possible.

"Hello?" Perry sang out into the hall. "Hello? Is anyone there? Can you help me? Uh…hello?"

The figure seemed to stop in its tracks and then suddenly disappeared. Disheartened, the professor stepped back from the door. Maybe there wasn't anyone there; maybe he was just imagining things.

"Hello?" Perry jumped and turned around. Staring through the pane of glass was a large green face wearing a red mask. "Anyone in here?"

"Y-yes." He replied. He wasn't quite sure what he was talking to, but it appeared to be some kind of giant turtle. "Great Scott, you're a… a turtle."

"Names Raphael." The turtle grunted. The turtle looked him up and down through the glass.

"I am Professor Jordan Perry." He told him, partly because he felt uncomfortable under the turtles gaze and wanted to break the silence.

"Perry? The kidnapped scientist?" the Professor nodded. "OK.. well… uh, I'm gonna get you out of here, OK?"

Raphael was tense, he shouldn't have been wasting time, he should be trying to rescue Mona Lisa. But this guy was in trouble too and he couldn't just leave him there. He pulled out one of his sai's to open the door before he realised it was a pin code lock. "Hey Professor, you know the code to this lock?"

"No – wait, yes. It's 64652….. 64651….. 63..?"Raph sighed as the professor tried to remember the code.

"Never mind." He said, pulling out his sai again. Using it to break the lock would surely set off the alarm and he really didn't want to expose himself this early, but he had no choice. Raphael raised his sai and plunged it into the keypad and, sure enough, the alarm went off, followed shortly afterwards by a voice repeating: "disturbance on Level 2". Raph guessed that the 'disturbance' was his brothers, who had probably exposed themselves to take credit for tripping the alarm.

Raph pulled the door open and motioned for Perry to leave the cell, then, hearing footsteps, pushed him back inside and stepped in after him. He pulled the door shut and ducked down as a herd of ninja ran straight past.

It took longer than he wanted to wait for all the foot ninja to pass, but Raph used the time to gather information from Professor Perry. "Do you know Mona Lisa?" he asked, cutting to the chase.

"P-pardon?" the professor said, bemused.

"Mona Lisa. Do you know her?"

"Mona Li- Yes! Yes, of course I know her." Perry fixed his glasses. "You- You're here to rescue her aren't you? You're one of the turtles the Shredder is always going on about."

"Where is she?" Raph stood up to peer out the small window in the door. Seeing that the halls were clear, he through the door open and ran out.

"She's being kept in a Lab a few doors down from here, but you should know…"

Raphael turned to face the Professor. "You stay here. I'll be back."

He heard the professor calling him but he wouldn't stop. He ran down the hall till he found that pair of double doors that lead to the lab Professor Perry was talking about. Pushing through the doors, he was surprised to see a small amount of Foot Scientists still working in the room. Immediately all heads turned to face the giant turtle.

"Well don't just stand there" A man, presumably Baxter Stockman, yelled from the back of the room. "Get Him!"

The ninja obeyed and attacked him from all sides. They obviously had little consideration for the work they were doing, because Raphael was thrown across and into a large work bench holding several kinds of chemicals and very expensive-looking equipment.

"Be careful you fools!" Stockman exclaimed, rushing forward to try and save his work.

Raph picked himself up and threw a punch at the closest person to him, which just happened to be Baxter Stockman. The obnoxious scientist stumbled back a few steps, knocking over another table and more of his precious work. He saw a fist fly at him out of the corner of his eye and turned to grab the ninja it belonged to, hurtling him into Stockman which, in turn, caused both of them to smash into the wall behind them.

Taking all of the foot Ninja down ended up taking him at least 10 minutes, which would have been a good time, but in Raph's case it was seven minutes too long. There was no more time left, he had to find Mona.

"Raph, according to the layout, the cells are on the left of the lab." Raph jumped a little, he had forgotten about April and the earpiece.

Panting, Raphael turned to face the left side of the lab. At the very back there seemed to be a row of cells built into the wall, each one like a tiny little prison.

"Raphael?" A familiar voice called out. It was soft and weak but he recognised it immediately. He followed the voice to the last cell at the very end of the room.

The lab itself was dimly lit, but the cage had no lighting at all so he could see if anyone was actually in there. "Mona. Mona, are you there? Is that you?" He saw something shift in the shadows.

"Raphael." She repeated. The figure shifted again, it looked as if she was trying to come forward, but then she stopped herself. "Raph, go away. I don't want you to see me."

The turtle wasn't listening, he was trying to jimmy open the lock with his sai. "Don't worry Mona, I'm gonna get you outta here." He heard a distinctive metallic click and gave a short laugh of triumph as he push the cell door open.

"NO!" She screamed at him, stopping him in his tracks.

"You gotta get out of there Raph, you're running out of time." April's voice said in his ear.

"Mona" He said as sincerely as he could. "C'mon, we gotta go. Now."

"No!" She screamed again as he tried to step forward. "Raph, you don't get it. I can't go back. Not anymore. I can never go back to my old life."

Raphael was confused. "Mona, what are you talking about? What's going on?"

"T-they did things to me, Raphael. They…. They changed me."

"Changed how?" His confusion was now replaced with a deep feeling of rage coming from the pit of his stomach. "What did they do to you?" She said nothing. "What did they do to you Mona?"

"I'm different." She stated coldly, more to herself than to Raphael.

He stood there in silence for a few moments before his thoughts were interrupted. "Raph, where are you?" April said through the earpiece. "Your brothers are already back. Have you found Mona?"

"Yeah I found her." He replied. "We'll be there soon." The transmission ended and once more he focused his attention on Mona Lisa, he could just make out her silhouette in the darkness. "Mona, c'mon. Whatever they've done to you, we can help. We can fix it."

"No you can't."

"At least let us try. Whatever happens, we'll be here for you. "

"Something's already happened." She said bitterly, Raphael could've sworn he saw the shadows shift around her legs.

He began to grow suspicious. What could she possibly be hiding there in the darkness? "Let me see you."

"No."

"Why not?" No answer. "Mona, please. Show me what they did to you."

"You won't like it."

"I don't care." Raph could hear her breathing getting heavier.

"Raphael-" April interjected.

"Yeah, I know." He said, cutting her off. "Mona, we gotta go now."

"But Raph-"

"Mona, whatever they did to you, none of us are gonna look at you any differently for it. There may not be anything we can do, but you're going to have to trust that we are going to help you. Do you trust us?"

"Raph…"

"Do you trust me?"

She was silent for a few moments. The alarm wasn't going off any more. She moved forward, one step at a time, and slowly her silhouette became clearer and clearer. Raphael saw it before she was even in the light. At first he thought it was just his eyes playing tricks on him, but then he saw it clear as day. A tail. A long, smooth, green tail.

Raph gasped as she stepped into the light. It couldn't be real. This couldn't be Mona Lisa. Mona was tan and soft and beautiful. Mona was human. This, whatever it was, was not. It was green and smooth and tailed, with webbed fingers and a beak similar to the ones he and his brothers had, only it was a lot more feminine-looking. The way it looked at Raph unnerved him, its eyes were much too familiar.

"Raph…" It said softly. He stepped back in shock. That voice… that was Mona's voice. But it couldn't be. If that was Mona's voice that would mean that that was…

"Mona Lisa?" She nodded slowly. Raph's head was spinning. He could faintly hear April's voice in his ear but he wasn't listening to what she was saying.

This was Mona. Only, it wasn't Mona. Not anymore. She wasn't even human, not physically anyway. She was something else entirely now, and Raph knew exactly what that was, though he couldn't bring himself to say it out loud.

"Y-you're… a" He stammered, struggling to find his words.

"Say it." She told him, her voice trembling with each word. "I'm a mutant."

…

*insert dramatic music here*

Bam! Bet you didn't see that one coming! Just kidding, what kind of mutation story would it be if someone didn't get mutated? Anyway, I know this isn't my best chapter (none of them are really) but it'll do for now, I might rewrite later on but now I just wanna finish the story. Oh, and don't worry about professor perry, he shall be rescued next chapter. Only 3 chapters left (maybe 4 if guys play ur cards right [*shifty eyes*]). Tell me what you guys think OK? Happy Holidays!

Xx


	14. Mutation

So I haven't updated in a year. Wow. I could give you guys a million and one excuses as to why, but honestly I just had really bad writers block and then totally forgot I was writing a fan fic til a few months ago. But none of that matters now because we have another chapter. Yay? Yay. Insert usual disclaimer here, and let's get going.

…

Raph shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't believe it. The thing in front of him, it wasn't Mona Lisa. It _couldn't_ be. He stood there, staring. Her voice rang in his ears. "_I'm a mutant"._ No, it wasn't possible. You can't just _make_ someone a mutant, right? Even if you could, who would be twisted enough to do something that inhumane?

Mona's sobs pulled him out of his train of thought. He began to realise that staring at her probably wasn't helping.

"Raph, what's going on?" April voice asked through the transmitter.

"Nothing." Raphael said hastily. "Nothing, I just – I found Mona Lisa. We're coming down now."

"You better hurry up; your brothers are already down here."

"I told you, we're on our way." Raph snapped, ending the transmission. He turned and reached out to Mona. "C'mon Mona we gotta go."

Mona shook her head and pulled away.

"Mona" He said softly "I don't know what they did to you but I promise you we will do everything we can to try to fix it."

"And what if you can't?" She whispered.

"Then we'll be there for you anyway." He told her. "But right now we have to go."

Mona nodded slowly and placed her hand in his. Her new skin felt cold and strange but Raphael had no time to dwell it. He pulled Mona out of her cell and quickly led her out the door and down the hall.

…

Professor Perry sat anxiously at the back of his cell waiting for the masked turtle to return. The wailing of alarms was accompanied by the sound of clattering footsteps and yelled orders. He could hear the commotion going on outside but was too afraid to go and look. Surprisingly, no one had come to check on him yet, which only meant that they must be busy with something else. _Like taking down a five foot turtle_. Perry thought to himself. The turtle promised he would come back after he rescued Mona Lisa, but that was quite a while ago. At least, it seemed like it was. Time seemed to be moving at a glacial pace while he was in his cell.

His train of thought was interrupted by a large amount of shouting coming from the end of the hall, slowly getting closer. The noises soon became clearer and the professor was able to recognise the distinctive sound of a Brooklyn accent telling someone to get back, followed by several large bangs and clangs. An unusual silence fell over the hall and the cell door flew open.

"Professor." The masked turtle nodded with a small smirk on his face. "Told you I'd be back, didn't I?"

It was then Perry noticed the girl standing behind Raphael, the girl he unfortunately knew was Mona Lisa. He didn't even notice her at first; she looked so small standing behind the red turtle. The look on her face broke his heart. She wasn't as scared as the professor was, but she was the most dejected person Perry had ever seen. The spark in her that Perry had witnessed on her first few days here had long since gone and had been replaced with an unfixable sense of melancholy. Instinctively, he reached out to her. She impulsively flinched back before he had a chance to get near her.

"Mona Lisa…" He wanted to say so much more, that he was sorry and he was going to do everything he could to fix it, but all he could seem to manage was her name.

"We gotta go, Prof." Raphael informed him.

Perry nodded and followed the turtle out of his cell and down the hall, silently ducking and weaving to avoid as many guards as they could. Raphael would take down any of the foot ninja that caught sight of them, but Professor Perry could see he was getting tired. Perry wished he could help, but he had no clue how to fight and Mona Lisa was in no condition to, the sudden exertion of energy took a toll on her and her health seemed to be deteriorating by the minute. It all relied on Raphael.

"You all right back there Professor?" Raph called over his shoulder, trying to fight off five foot ninja at once.

"Oh yes, I'm fine." He replied nervously.

"And Mona?"

Perry looked down at the young lizard woman who was leaning on him, trying as best she could to support her own weight. The professor wrapped his arm around her in an attempt to keep her steady. "Not as well, I'm afraid."

"Just hang in there, Mona. We're almost there." He said as he took down the last foot ninja and they started moving again.

"I'm fine." Mona said barely loud enough for Raph to here.

"We'll let Donnie be the judge of that." He told her as he helped the professor lead her down a dark flight of stairs. Without letting go of Mona, he kicked the door open and led her into an alleyway. They were finally out.

…

"What's taking them so long?" Leo asked anxiously. The entire van had been silent up until then. They were all waiting for Raphael to return, fearing for the worst.

"Don't worry, Leo. I'm sure they're fine." Donnie said, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"But they should have been back by now, and he's not responding to April. What's Taking Raph so long?"

"Look dude, if I know Raph, He's probably taking extra time to beat up as many Foot ninja as possible." Mikey threw his hands behind his head and rested his feet on the back of Casey's chair, kicking him in the back of the head in the process.

"April, do you know where he is?" Donnie asked, leaning over the front seat.

Before she had time to respond the van doors flew open. Raph stood there panting, there were two figures behind him but in the dark of the alleyway no one could make out who they were.

Mikey let out a cheer. "See? What did I tell you guys?" He exclaimed, climbing over Leo and Don to get closer to Raph. "Raph! Way to go, buddy. You kicked some Foot clan butt!" Mikey paused when he saw the look on his brother's face and realised that things may not have gone as well as he thought. "Wh… Where's Mona, dude?"

The mention of her name seemed to make something click in Raphael's head, his expression softened as he beckoned the figures behind him forward. He murmured something as he helped an unknown man guide someone - something - to the van. The man wore a lab coat and glasses, his hair was prematurely greying. Mikey had no clue who he was. The other figure Michelangelo recognised immediately, although he wished he hadn't.

"No…" He whispered. "…Mona Lisa?"

The green creature lifted her head. Mikey heard April gasp from behind him, other than that the van was eerily silent. No one moved, No one spoke. They all just sat there staring at the girl who used to be Mona Lisa.

"Any of you gonna help me?" Raph grunted as he lifted Mona into the van.

Donatello was the first to respond. He pushed Michelangelo out of the way and help Raph sit Mona down. "Careful. If she's already injured we don't want to make anything worse." The shock had gone from Don's face and been replaced with genuine concern.

Everyone had been so consumed with Mona Lisa, no one noticed that the other man had climbed into the van as well, and was now timidly sitting next to Leonardo. "Um… hello, my name is Professor Jordan Perry." He said rather awkwardly as Leo stared at him.

"It's ok." Raph said over his shoulder. "He's good."

Leo looked uneasy but shook the professor's hand anyway. He had bigger things to worry about right now. Raph closed the van doors as Donatello did the best he could to dress Mona's wounds.

"Casey, hit the gas. We gotta get outta here before any Foot ninja show up." Raph grunted as he sat down next to Mona.

Casey drove as fast as he possibly could without arousing suspicion. He didn't ask questions. No one did. They just sat there in silence and waited to arrive at the lair.

...

"How could someone do that to a person?" April said in a whisper.

When they had reached the lair, Donatello took Mona Lisa striaght to his lab, he was accompanied by Master Splinter, who handled the shock much better than the rest of the group. Once he saw Mona he took control immediately, telling Donatello to take Mona and sending the other to wait in the lounge room. Other than the occassional call to April for help, no one was allowed in. That left them with nothing to do but hear the story from Professor Perry.

"It's the Foot, April. They're sick." Raph snapped as he paced accross the room. "I tell ya, I'm gonna make 'em pay for what they did. What kinda messed up-"

"Raph!" Leo hissed. "We're all mad at the foot, but none of that is going to help Mona Lisa right now. calm down."

Raph grumbled under his breath, but sat down on the couch next to his brother anyway.

"Raphael." Professor Perry said, leaning over. "You must know that I never meant for any of this to happen."

"Hey, this wasn't your fault prof." Mieky said, patting his back. "And Raph doesn't blame you. Do you, Raph?"

Raph slowly shook his head, not looking up from the piece of floor he was staring at.

"Thank you." The Professor said softly. "I just... I hope Mona Lisa doesn't blame me either."

…

So what did we all think? Any good? I admit it was totally not worth the wait and it's a little short but still. Tell me what you guys think, or, if you just want to yell at me for updating so slowly you can do that too. I will love you either way.

Xx


	15. Moonlight

Yeah I know, I suck at updating. But the main thing is a new chapter is here so we can all be happy. Pretty sure this chapter doesn't really make sense but tell me if it's completely incomprehensible. Here we go.

…

Three days. It had been three days since they broke into Foot Clan headquarters. Three days since they rescued Mona. For those three days he had done nothing. Donnie and April had been locked away in the lab with Professor Perry trying everything they could think of to Help Mona. However, they soon learned that there wasn't a lot they could do. "_The effects were designed to be irreversible_" he had overheard Perry say. But still the three of them worked as hard as they could to find a way. Master Splinter was the only one allowed in the lab, he couldn't do much for Mona but he was able to keep everybody calm. Leonardo helped splinter, at least, he tried to. He waited by the door until his sensei told him to go fetch something. When Splinter would leave the lab Leonardo followed him like a lost puppy, begging his master to let him do more to help. Michelangelo spent most of the time cooking. He provided everyone with food and drinks, whatever they needed. Of course, nobody ate, they weren't really hungry. But they thanked him and took the plate anyway. Casey sat on the couch with a notepad, jotting down ideas for stories that the professor could tell the police when the time came to take him back to the surface.

Everyone had something to do. Everyone but him. He just sat there, useless. What could he do? He was Raphael, he was a fighter. Now that the fight was over there was nothing for him but to sit and watch.

"Raph." He looked up from the floor to see Casey staring quizzically at him. "Raph, you ok man?"

"Y-yeah" He said, waving a hand dismissively. "I'm just… worried, you know?"

"We all are." Casey put down his pencil. "Things will be ok though, man. Things will get better."

"How?"

"I don't know." he answered honestly. "But they will."

Raph sighed "I just wish there was more I could do, you know? That there was some way I could help."

"We all do, man."

"It's not the same!" Raph slammed his hands on the coffee table and jumped to his feet, causing Casey to jump and Leo to look over from his position near the lab door. "You're all… doing something. You're helping in some _stupid_ way. And what am I doing? Just sitting here like a chump doing nothing! I haven't done _anything_ to help her!"

"You really think that?" Casey walked over and put his hand on Raph's shoulders. "You _saved_ her. You got her out of there. Without you, she'd probably still be in there, hell, she'd probably be dead. You saved her, Raph."

Raphael sighed and sat back down. Casey sat next to him, hand still resting on his shoulder. "You ok, Raph?" This time it was Leo asking, he had left his stop by the door to check on his brother.

He didn't look up. "Yeah Leo, I'm fine." He said, slightly irritated.

"What's going on?" Mikey asked, emerging from the kitchen.

"Nothing." Raph snapped.

"Raph's stressed." Leo explained, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder in a comforting fashion.

"I said I was fine!" He almost yelled, standing up and moving away from Leo and Casey. "Besides, this isn't about me. We should be worrying about Mona."

"It's ok, Raph." Leo said soothingly. "You're allowed to be upset."

"Yeah, this is hard on all of us." Mikey agreed.

"Would people please stop telling me that it's ok?! It's not ok! Look at what happened to her, one of our best friends! This is our fault! And there's nothing we can do to fix it!"

"That's not true!" Leo was yelling now. "Donnie and April and the professor are doing everything they can to help her!"

"And how's that going?" He exclaimed. "They've been at this for 3 days now, face it Leo, they got no clue what they're doing!"

"Raph!" Mikey gasped in shock. Raphael glared at his brother. They all knew it was true but nobody had said it out loud before.

"You know, I don't think Mona Lisa needs that kind of attitude right now!" Leo closed in on Raph "Especially not from someone who claims to be her friend!"

"My sons!" Everyone turned to see Splinter standing there, watching them. He looked tired, understandably so, as he hadn't slept since they had rescued Mona Lisa and brought her back to the lair. "My sons, sit. I must talk with you. All of you."

…

Leo, Raph, and Mikey sat on the couch together silently. Casey was in the arm chair next to them, while Don, April and Professor Perry stood behind, most probably already aware of what he was going to say.

Some moments passed before Splinter finally spoke. "We have all been through… a great deal in the past few days. No one was prepared for this and I…" Splinter paused and looked at each of his sons. "I am very proud of you all. You have stepped up to help your friend when she needed you most. But I am afraid more is required of you. As you all know, Professor Perry has been working with Donatello and Miss O'Neil to cure Mona Lisa. But, as we all feared, there is not much they can do. We thank the professor for his help but it is time he returned to the surface. There is nothing else he can do for us here."

"I plan to dedicate all my time to finding a cure when I get back to my own lab." Perry interjected "And I'll be coming to check up on Mona Lisa. I assure you I don't plan on giving up on this just yet."

Splinter nodded. "Thank you professor, for everything. Now, my sons, it is your turn. As you are most likely aware, because Mona Lisa's… _condition_ she is not able to return to the surface." Raphael noticed how people kept avoiding the 'mutant'. Nobody seemed to want to say it. He understood why, to officially declare Mona a mutant was a very final thing. It meant that this was permanent, that she would never be human again. People wanted to avoid using that word as long as possible.

"Because of that, she is to stay with us." Splinter continued. "We are to take care of her. I am not sure for how long. I know this is a lot to ask of you, my sons, but it is our duty as her friends and as men of honor to help her through this."

The room was silent. No one was sure what to say. Of course they all agreed with what Splinter had said, but they still had a million and one questions, all of them about Mona. Mikey was the first to speak up.

"Where is she going to sleep?" He said, raising his hand.

"My room." Raphael said without hesitation. "She can take my room sensei. I can sleep on the couch."

"That is very gracious, Raphael." His sensei said seriously. "But you do realise that we are not sure how long this arrangement is going to be for?"

Raph nodded, he understood completely. "Yes Sensei, but I still want to help. In any way possible."

Splinter bowed to his son. "Thank you, Raphael."

After that Splinter set to work getting things organised. He asked April and Casey to drive Professor Perry to the police station. They did so without question and after the professor said his goodbyes and babbled more apologies they left. Donatello went back to the lab to take care of Mona. Splinter joined them after a while to explain the situation to her.

Raphael set to work cleaning his room for Mona Lisa. He wished he had more time; after all he wasn't exactly prepared for having a girl live in his room for an indefinite amount of time. But he did what he could with what little time he had. Once he deemed the room inhabitable he grabbed what he thought he would need for the next few nights and headed downstairs.

He was about halfway down the stairs when he noticed them. It was Master Splinter, just standing there at the bottom of the staircase talking to Mona Lisa. She had her arms wrapped around herself and he could see that she was shaking slightly. Master Splinter said something to her, he was too far away to hear what, and touched her forearm. Mona nodded and a couple of strands of hair fell out of place. Raph surveyed her now webbed hand as it subconsciously moved to push them back. She was so different. Not just in appearance, in attitude. He had never seen her look so timid before. His brothers obviously thought so too, as he saw them out of the corner of his eye just standing there staring at her. They were a fair distance away; Donatello was standing in front of them, most probably preventing them from getting any closer. He knew his brothers wanted to talk to her, he did too. But he could tell just by looking at her that now was not the time for that.

Raphael then witnessed his father do something very out of character and pull Mona Lisa into a hug. It lasted a few moments before Mona pulled away. She gave Splinter a weak smile before heading up the stairs. He watched her as she walked towards him. When she finally noticed him, she slowed to a halt. She was just a few feet away now. He could reach out and touch her if he wanted, but he didn't. He stood perfectly still, as if he were frozen in place. She looked up at him, her eyes filled with sadness and a thousand other unidentified emotions. He offered her a small smile as a source of comfort. She looked back down and continued walking. It wasn't until he heard the click of his bedroom door shutting that he finally decided to continue down the stairs.

…

It had been about a month since he started sleeping on the couch and it was beginning to take his toll on him. His shell ached, he was waking up later, falling behind in practice. He refused to say anything though. He was more than willing to sleep on the couch for as long as Mona needed his room.

They hadn't seen much of Mona since she moved in with them. She rarely left the room. When she did the others tried not to make a big deal of it. _"She does not wish to draw attention to herself, it would be best to just continue acting normally"_ Splinter had told them once. All her meals were delivered to the room, usually by Splinter but occasionally Mikey would insist on doing it. He was also the one who made her meals, making sure each one was of gourmet quality. She didn't eat much though, which upset him. Not because of the work he put in, but out of concern for her health. Mikey had made it a habit to stay and talk to her while she ate every time he brought her food. Though she didn't say much, she never kicked him out. In fact, she invited in anyone who came to visit. Well, she never turned them away at least. She just opened the door and sat back down on the bed, allowing whoever it was to walk in and have their mostly one-sided conversation.

Everyone had visited her at least one. Even Professor Perry did when he dropped by to check up on her. They were all excited to see him until he informed them that he hadn't made any progress in finding a cure. April went to see her every time she was over, and Casey joined her on occasion. In an attempt to lift her spirits, April always tried to bring her something when she came to visit. It was usually something of Mona's she had found lying around the store or in her apartment, like her jacket or one of her book, or it was things she thought Mona needed, like a hairbrush or some blankets. Donatello saw her twice a week to check how she was doing medically. His visits were usually silent, as he had no clue what to say to her. Leo went to see her every so often, probably to give some inspirational speech about staying strong and not giving up. At least, that's what Raph thought.

Raphael had visited her once, and it lasted a total of 3 minutes. He remembered how much he thought about it until he decided it was the right thing to do, how he rehearsed everything he wanted to say a million times over in his head, how long he stood outside the door before he gathered the courage to knock. When she finally opened the door he felt the sudden urge to run. He fought against his urges and walked into the room.

It was a full minute before he finally spoke. "So, um, How are… I mean- are things… are you ok?"

Out of all the things he could have said, he felt like that was the stupidest. Mona nodded, not looking up from her lap.

"Well, um… I-I just… I…" He sighed as he finally gave into his nerves and chickened out of the speech he had planned. "I just came to get some things."

She nodded again while he pretended to search his room. He picked up some things he didn't actually need before heading to the door again.

Before he left, he turned to look at her one more time. He opened his mouth to speak one more time. "Please don't give up" He blurted out. She looked slightly confused. "Not that you… I didn't mean… I'm here for you, Mona. If you need me."

That was the last thing he said before he slammed the door shut and left the room. He mentally kicked himself for weeks after that. He should have handled that better. He shouldn't have been such an idiot.

Raphael didn't sleep much anymore. The couch didn't really make the most comfortable bed. So he had fallen into the habit of going out nearly every night. Most of the time he would go topside and look for crime, but sometimes he would just wander the sewers aimlessly, trying to think of possible ways he could help Mona Lisa. It was on one of these walks when it happened.

He was travelling through the sewers, lost in his thoughts. He wasn't too concerned with where he was heading, changing direction whenever he felt like. It wasn't until it started to get lighter that he finally took notice of his surroundings. The light was coming from the moon, seeping through the grates and washing over everything. It made the concrete walls of the sewer shine in a strange way. There were no cars or pedestrians passing by to block the light, which was a strange thing for New York, even at this time of night. It was what allowed him to see the image in front of him so clearly.

Mona Lisa.

She sat on the floor of the sewer, leaning against the wall and looking up at the moon. Her hands rested on her knees and her tail curled gently around her feet. She looked… peaceful, calm. And sad. She always looked sad nowadays, but this was different. It was more of a… yearning kind of look. That was really the only word Raph could think of to describe it.

He was so shocked by her presence there that it took him a few moments for him to react. Finally he gained the courage to speak. "Mona."

She jumped violently and instinctively turned in his direction. She had obviously not expected to be caught. Her eyes fluttered wildly. "Raph." She said, louder than he expected her to. "W-what… what are you doing here?"

It was the first time she had spoken to him in over a month now. It was an odd realisation for both of them. "Nothing" He said, trying to be as nonchalant as possible. "But, you know, I'm always out here. Whadda you doing here?"

She almost looked embaressed. "I… I just wanted to see the moon."

When he thought about, it wasn't too surprising. She is – she _was_ – human afterall. She was used to seeing the moon every night. The fact that they had just expected her to adapt to the darkness of sewer life now seemed stupid to him.

"I don't remember it being this beautiful." She said in a small voice.

Raph hesitated; he didn't really know what to say. "Do you mind if I join you?"

She looked at him for a moment, then shook her head and silently gestured to the spot next to her.

"Ya know" Raph started as he sat down. "You really should be out here."

"I know." There was a bitterness to her voice as she spoke. "Splinter already gave me this talk. There are many dangers in the outside world for me now. I shouldn't venture beyond the lair until fully understand this. Maybe someday you guys will take me to the surface but until then…"

"I remember that talk." Raph laughed. "Used to get it all the time."

She gave a small smile. "I suppose there's a lot I can't do now that I look like this."

Raphael sat there silently, trying to think of something reassuring to say. It was times like this that Raph envied Leo's gift for speech. As much as it annoyed him, Ol' fearless always knew what to say. That was a talent he could use right about now. Instead he just stared at the moon.

"What's going to happen?" She asked. It was a vague question but he knew what she was talking about.

"I don't know." He said truthfully. "Donnie and the professor are still working hard to find a way to reverse it but-"

"But it doesn't look good.' She finished, nodding in understanding. "But my life. College, my job, my friends… I just give that up?"

"Some of it, I guess. You have to. But you can start a new life. Here, with us. I know it ain't exactly what you planned, living in a sewer and everything…"

"Raph, I appreciate that, but I can't just live in your room the rest of my life. That's not fair on you or your family and it's just not what I want to do." She tried to keep a joking tone in her voice as she spoke, but Raph could see the tears that were formed in her eyes.

"Then we'll figure something else out. We'll figure it out, Mona, you just… you gotta stay strong you know?" He fumbled over his words, trying to think of the right thing to say.

"It's all gone." She continued as if he hadn't said anything. "Everything, all of it. Gone. And what am I supposed to do about it? Hide? Never see the sun again? Lock myself away like I'm some kind of monster, a menace to society?"

"You're not a monster, Mona."

"I'm a Freak!" She yelled. She threw her head back and it slammed against the wall with a loud thud. She let out a pained hiss and rubbed the back of her head. Her gaze left the moon and moved to her feet.

"I used to be beautiful." Her voice was so soft that he almost missed it. "I know that sounds vain, but it's true. I was beautiful. Now look at me."

"You're still beautiful, Mona." He said instinctively. When he looked over to her he realised just how true his words were. Her green skin was a lighter shade than his and his brothers, and turned an greenish-yellow colour around her chest and stomach, down to the underside of her tail. It looked soft and smooth as it glistened ever so slightly in the moonlight. Her fingers, while webbed were still long and slender. She still had the same curves she had when she was human, although she looked much thinner than before. Raph put this down to how little she had been eating. Her was longer than he remembered and had become incredibly wavy without the constant styling. It cascaded down her back and over her shoulders. Her beak was much more soft-looking than his own, there was less of an edge to it. The shape of her face was still exactly the same, as were her eyes. They were still the same deep, beautiful, mesmerising eyes he remembered looking into so many times before.

It took him a couple of seconds to realise Mona was staring at him. Or rather, _he_ was staring at _her _while she gave him a confused look. "Don't lie to me, Raphael." She said sadly. "I know you're trying to help, but I don't need it. Not when I know the truth."

"I'm not lying." He said honestly. "You're still Beautiful, Mona. You're just different. But it's still beautiful." She stared at him quizzically as he continued. "You're still you, Mona."

"Really?" She said finally.

"I wouldn't lie to ya." He grunted, things getting a little more mushy than he was comfortable with. "Tell anyone I said that and I'll break you."

"You're secret soft side is safe with me, doll." She gave a small laugh. He wagered that was the first time she actually laughed in a while.

…

What do we think? I think Raph is a little out of character in this chapter, but as always I'm too lazy to rewrite anything. Tell me what you think. Getting close to the end now so I won't be tormenting you guys with my terrible updating skills for much longer

Xx


	16. A New Life

Ok, the last chapter. Finally. Took me long enough right? Not exactly a climatic ending but it gives the story some closure. If you have any questions you need answered that I haven't addressed just ask and I'll tell you. Thank you for reading and for putting up with me all this time (That is, if you've been following since the beginning). Usual disclaimer here. Enjoy.

…

Raphael was the first to wake up that day. It wasn't that surprising really, since he started sleeping on the couch he had developed the habit of waking up early. What was unusual was the thing what woke him. The sound of plates shuffling and bacon sizzling, the smell of freshly brewed coffee and orange juice. It wasn't an unfamiliar thing, back during simpler times Mikey would often get up early and make breakfast for his family. But it hadn't happened in a long time, nobody really felt like sitting through a family breakfast anymore.

"Mikey?" He called, slightly disgruntled from his lack of sleep. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. Mikey?" He called out again. No answer. Raph heaved himself up from the couch and went to investigate.

Raph stopped in his tracks when he reached the kitchen. Though still groggy from sleep, there was no mistaking the scene he saw before him.

"Hey Raph" Mona said with a small smile on her face. There she was standing at the stove with a pan of bacon and eggs in her hand. The table was set neatly, with a jug of orange juice and a plate of pancakes sitting in the centre.

"Umm… hey" he tried to say as calmly as possibly. This was the first time he had seen Mona downstairs since she had moved in.

"Would you like something to eat?" She said hesitantly.

"Uh, yeah… sure." Raph quickly took a seat at the table. Mona walked over and piled his plate high with bacon and eggs. Raphael helped himself to the plate of pancakes.

"Coffee?" She offered, already pouring some into his mug. He nodded, unable to speak with his mouthful of eggs.

An awkward silence hung in the air, neither of them sure what to say next. Mona continued with her cooking while Raphael sat and ate, staring at his plate a bit to intensely.

"So, Mona… uh… how long have you been up?" Raphael asked as casually as possible.

She cracked another egg into the frying pan. "A while."

"Has Splinter seen you yet?"

"He came in a while ago, we had a talk. I made him breakfast too." She informed him.

Raph wanted desperately to know what Splinter had told her but was too afraid to ask. Instead, he just sat silently and ate his breakfast. They were completely quiet for what seemed like an eternity, both of them wanting to speak but not having any idea what to say to the other. Finally, Raph put down his fork and decided to say something, anything. "Mona, I-"

He was cut off as two of his brothers, Leonardo and Donatello, enter the kitchen. They were chatting happily to each other, most likely discussing possible sources for the scent of food they smelt, when they stopped dead in their tracks just as their brother had.

"M-Mona" Donatello stammered, taking in the sight before him.

"Morning." She said tentatively.

"Hey guys, who's cooking? I know it can't be Leo because i-" Mikey began as he walked into the kitchen. "Guys, she's downstairs… which is not a surprise at all, Mona." He added quickly after a painful jab in the ribs from Don.

Mona just stood there for a moment as the brothers stared at her, attempting to think of something to say. It was Mona who spoke first. "Are any of you hungry?"

They all nodded and sat down as quick as possible, not wanting to offend. Mona provided them with more than enough of everything. The moment they finished a drink she was there to refill the cup, if they ran out of bacon she was piling it back up in their plate. It was like she was trying to compensate for everything she put them through with food.

Nobody asked why she was downstairs, or what inspired her to leave the room she had cooped herself up in for months now. They didn't want to jinx it. This was a good thing. She was out and she was acting like her old self again. Almost. There was still sadness in her eyes when she spoke, and her smile wasn't as bright as it used to be, but she was getting there.

After breakfast Mona went back upstairs, feeling too overwhelmed to continue socialising. No one seemed to mind though; they even offered to clean up the kitchen for her. She thanked them and returned to her room for the rest of the day.

Mona didn't come downstairs the next day, or the day after that. When she finally did return nobody made a big deal about it. They tried their best to treat her as normally as possible, knowing that if they questioned or babied her in any way it would destroy all the progress she had made. She never stayed downstairs for long. Usually just for a meal, maybe two if they were lucky. Sometimes she wouldn't even talk. I t didn't matter, it just mattered that she was there. Gradually, she ended up spending more and more time downstairs with the turtles and less time locked up in her room. It was about a month and a half before she finally spent a full day downstairs. They all remembered how proud they were of her progress and wishing they could tell her, but they kept their mouth shut.

Not too long after she started spending most of her days downstairs hanging with the guys, playing games with Mikey and assisting Donnie with his experiments. Raph had even taken it upon himself to train her, in case she ever ended up in trouble. The two of them had sparring sessions every Wednesday. She never missed a training session with Raph, even if she wasn't talking, even if she spent the entire day in her room, she would still come down to train with Raphael. No one was sure why, maybe it was out of fear that something terrible would happen again, maybe it was a good release for the anger she had bottled up over the past few months, maybe she just like spending the time with Raph, but the training helped. Sometimes she even had lessons with Splinter, he would teach her the art of the shadows and how to go about unseen when she was ready to go topside. Occasionally, he even allowed her to join the turtles training sessions. She was nowhere near as skilled as them, but she still found it great fun. After a while nearly all their worries about Mona were gone, it was clear that despite everything she had been through that Mona was going to be ok.

…

Three months had passed and Mona had given Raphael back his room, claiming she didn't need it anymore and deciding to sleep on the couch instead. The turtles trusted her more now, taking her on adventures through the sewers and, very rarely and only with express permission from Splinter, topside. Mona loved these trips; they were the best part of her week. She loved playing out on the rooftops, watching the people walk pass from way up high, gazing at the stars in the sky.

One night she snuck out to the rooftops with Raphael. He was teaching her how to go from roof to roof without being seen, a skill she had yet to master. They were just exploring the city, not really paying attention to where they were going.

"OK, this next rooftop, you think you can make it?" Raph said in a surprisingly casual manner considering the speed he was going.

"You underestimate me doll." Mona panted; she wasn't as used to the whole converse-while-running thing as Raphael was.

"Alright then, prove me wrong babe."

"Don't call me babe." She called as she picked up her pace. He laughed and watched her run at full speed, her hair flying in the breeze. However, as she reached the side of the building she stopped dead in her tracks.

"What's the matter, princess?" he joked, slowing down. "Stage fright?"

As he came to a stop next to her he realised she was staring at something. He followed her gaze and suddenly felt like an idiot for leading her down this way. "Oh."

"My apartment." She said in a small voice. "My home. At least, it was."

"Aw, shell. Mona, I'm sorry. I'm such an idiot."

"No, it's ok." She whipered. "It was bound to happen sooner or later. I can't believe I didn't realise where I was. Have I really been away that long?"

He grabbed her hand. "C'mon, let's get outta here."

She didn't move. "That place is the only thing left of my life. And I can never go there again. I have nothing. No job, no family, no home. I have nothing left. What do I do with myself now?"

"Mona…" he was unsure of what he was going to say but he wanted to comfort the girl in some way. "Mona I'm sorry for what happened to you, and I swear one day we're gonna make Baxter pay for what he did to you, but you gotta move on."

Mona gave Raphael an angry glare. "I'm sorry, that sounded bad. But it's true. There are some things you just can't change, and I think you might have to accept that. Things are different now. But I'm-_we're _here for you."

She squeezed his hand tightly and Raph realised that he still hadn't let go of her. "Let's go."

The pair left in silence and went straight back to the lair.

…

"Guys, where are we going?"

"We're almost there, you'll see." Donatello answered, guiding Mona Lisa down an unfamiliar sewer line.

"What's with all the mystery? Why can't I know?" she asked as she followed them through the tunnels.

"Because if ya knew, it wouldn't be a surprise now would it?" Raph quipped.

"Oh you're just so clever aren't you, Doll face?" Mona voice was dripping with sarcasm as she watched Raphael cringe at the name 'doll face'.

"Trust us, Mona. You're gonna love it." exclaimed Mikey, putting an arm around her shoulder. "You're gonna be so surprised when you see your br-"

There was a loud thump as Raph whacked Mikey over the head before he could finish his sentence. "Quiet, shell for brains, you're gonna ruin the whole thing."

Mikey just giggled. "Ooh, sorry."

"Ok, here we are." Leonardo announced.

Mona stepped around the brothers to see what they were talking about. She saw nothing. Just another sewer tunnel. Further down there was an archway that someone had boarded up. She couldn't see anything that could cause the turtles to drag her down here.

"What?" she asked.

"You don't see it?" Donnie asked excitedly.

"What? I see a tunnel, a brick wall, that that boarded up arch…" Mona stopped. Now that she was really looking at she could see that what she thought were boards was actually a door homemade door. Too anyone passing by it simply looked like a blocked off section of tunnel, most likely dilapidated and dangerous. She had a feeling whoever made this door designed it with that in mind.

"Is that a door?" she said slowly.

"Yeah!" Mikey practically yelled at her. "I mean, uh, yeah."

"Well, what's behind it?"

Raphael nudged her forward. "Why don't you go find out?"

Mona hesitantly walked towards the door, unsure what she would find behind it or why she was so nervous. She was suddenly struck with a very vivid memory of the night she was abducted. How quiet it had been, how sudden the whole thing was. What if something like that happened again? She wasn't prepared then and who's to say she was prepared now. Her heart started pounding and she had the sudden urge to turn and run the other way, back to the safety the lair and the room she had lived in for so long. She fought back though. The turtles were her friends; they weren't going to put her in danger. At least, not on purpose. April hadn't meant to put her in danger either. Mona panicked and stopped dead in her tracks.

"Mona?" Donatello approached her. "Mona, are you ok?"

"I told you this might happen." Said Leo. "It's too soon for her. She's not ready for this."

"Ready for what?" Mona tried to keep her voice steady, slightly embarrassed by the way she was acting.

"Yes she is." Mikey protested, ignoring Mona's question. "Mona's brave and independent and awesome. Besides, we're not forcing this on her; we haven't even showed her yet."

"Shown me what?" Mona spoke a little louder. "What is happening?"

"Hey," Raph put a hand on her shoulder. "Just trust us, ok? Nothing bad is gonna happen."

Mona nodded and walked towards the door, Raphael by her side all the while. As she reached out her hand to open it he stopped her.

"Are you ready?" He asked. She nodded again.

Raphael pushed the door open and Mona stepped inside. She was amazed by what she saw.

It was her apartment. Every bit of furniture, every doodad, every detail of her former residence located below the city. If it wasn't for the absence of windows and the hard sewer walls she could have sworn that this was the home she had left behind.

Mona just stood there gaping at the sight. "Wha…."

"SURPRISE!" Mikey yelled, throwing his hands in the air. "Do you like it?"

"What is this?" she said in a hushed voice as wandered through the room.

"It's your apartment." Mikey informed her. "We moved all of your things down here. Sorry it took so long, you have a lot of stuff."

"Why?" Was the only question she could think of.

"We… thought you might need a place to live." Donatello spoke up. "I mean, you couldn't sleep on the couch for the rest of your life and we didn't think you'd want to live with 4 teenage boys."

Leo stepped forward. "We realise everything you had to give up. You lost your whole life on the surface; we understand how hard that must be to give up. So we'd like to invite you to be part of our family. As you probably noticed this place isn't too far from the lair, you can come visit us whenever you want and we'll come see you."

"You can play video games with me and teach Leo how to cook and do boring science stuff with Donnie, he's even rebuilding your bike and- oops, that was meant to be a surprise too." Mikey looked bashful as Don glared at him uncharacteristically.

"My motorcycle, my baby?" Mona's eyes lit up slightly.

Don smiled. "It should be ready by the end of the week."

Mona beamed as she took everything in. "You guys really went to all this trouble just for me?"

"It was Raph's idea." Mikey stated, pointing a finger at his brother.

She turned to face the hot-headed turtle. "Raph?"

"Well, I wanted you to have_ some_ options on what to do with your life." He shrugged.

"We can't force you to stay with us; anything you choose to do is your choice. But we'd like you to." Leo smiled at her.

"Yeah, we love ya Mona. I know it won't be the same as your _glamorous_ surface life," Raph said dramatically. "But you could start a new life down here, with us."

Mona flopped down on the couch and looked around at her new home. "A new life, I like that."

…

The End.

Thank you for reading.

xoxo


End file.
